What’s CBT & How Can It Help Mental Health Patients?

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a goal-oriented psychotherapy technique that’s effective in changing the way thought processes work. This therapy is proven beneficial for patients to cope with stress, anxiety, depression, and many other mental health conditions.

Also Read- 5 Worst Myths About Anxiety Disorders You Should Know

CBT is effective in understanding how certain life events affect the way we behave and react, how we feel. Medical research says that therapy can help in managing various stressful situations. A reputed medical clinic can help you get professional advice for CBT.

So, how exactly CBT works for boosting mental wellness? Read on to learn more.

What’s CBT?

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is a psychotherapy that is focused on learning about how thoughts & beliefs are linked to feelings and behaviors.

Using this therapy, people can learn effective ways of thinking & behaving, and also about the unhelpful thoughts that can affect the way a person functions.

CBT allows mental health patients to learn coping strategies for stressful events, thus improving their lives.

The complete CBT course consists of various sessions, in which mental health professionals and patients meet regularly.

CBT Can Help Mental Health Patients

• Determine the major stressful situations causing problems
• Know triggers of negative thoughts
• Control fears
• Identify life goals and create relevant strategies for meeting them
• Stop blaming themselves
• Learn how certain situations affect their mood

Medical Conditions CBT Can Treat

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is effective in managing various conditions-

• General Anxiety Disorder
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
• Insomnia
• Social Anxiety
• Panic Disorder
• Eating Disorder
• Dental Phobia
• Marital Conflict
• Substance Abuse
• Chronic Pain
• Depression
• Sexual & Relationship Problems

How Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Work?

Some psychotherapies are focused on past beliefs and feelings for understanding the present thoughts. However, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy works on present beliefs.

CBT is helpful in managing problems associated with thoughts and beliefs. It focuses on identifying the patient’s life goals and changing the way they approach stressful situations.

One of the major objectives of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is to change the way a patient thinks and behaves, thus delivering positive effects. For instance, depression results in distorted perceptions and interpretations. Patients with this condition often have a negative mindset and difficulty in making decisions and dealing with certain situations. This usually results in negative things.

However, CBT is aimed at controlling these negative thoughts and replacing them with positive ones. It can be done in various ways, such as acquiring new skills, identifying how your thinking process works, etc.

Now, let’s understand how CBT helps in managing anxiety.

Patients with anxiety experience excessive worrying, sleep problems, and fear. These symptoms can make it difficult for them to handle their daily tasks and lead a happy life.

So, even if everyone around is happy with them, they continue to worry over little things and experience various health issues.

Talking to a licensed mental health practitioner at a reputed Santa Ana medical clinic can help you with the list of evidence supporting your beliefs and evidence against it. Thus, by understanding the lists, you can easily determine your negative thoughts, their origins, and learn the coping strategies.

For example, if you are worried about losing your job. You can make two lists—one is about the evidence supporting such thoughts and another is about the evidence against them. If the against list contains more points, then your thoughts about losing your job are not true. 

CBT Techniques For Boosting Mental Health

Goal Setting

Identifying your objectives and setting goals can help in coping with mental illnesses such as anxiety and depression. Your therapist will help you learn about things you are passionate about, your goals, and make customized strategies for that.

Additionally, the therapist will help you identify and learn new skills to meet your objectives and fight stressful situations. For example, including exercise in your routine allows you to boost mood, reduce stress hormones, thus boosting your overall health. This will help you work dedicatedly to achieve your goals.

Cognitive Restructuring

This technique involves learning the inside story of negative thoughts. Perhaps, you are giving more attention to little things, which can affect the way you perform.

While working with a therapist, you can easily determine how your thought process works and what are the major reasons for those negative thoughts. Once this is done, you can restructure your thought process to boost mood, concentration, and productivity.

For example, “That email related to my bad work shows that I can’t do anything right.” will be replaced by “I have earned many accolades from my manager, it’s okay, sometimes, it happens.”

Making a Record of Thoughts

Writing your thoughts in your personal notepad allows you to have a better understanding of how you feel and behave.

You can work with your mental health professional to identify your thoughts (both positive and negative) that occurred between two consecutive sessions. You can note down how you felt in performing different activities such as watching a football match, spending time with your kids, visiting your parents, meeting your college friends, etc. Thus, you can easily determine the activities that make you happy and the ones that increase your anxiety levels.

Scheduling Things

Not doing things on time is one of the reasons for excessive worrying and anxious feelings. And, making a routine can make your life a lot easier.

You can make a list of activities for the next day. It’s good to write down the estimated time of completion in front of each activity. This will help you ease anxiety and fear.

Stress Management Techniques

Stress is a silent killer. It can lead to sleep problems, racing thoughts, trouble making decisions, and feeling unmotivated. In CBT, there are several relaxation techniques that can help ease stress, thus boosting mental wellness. These include deep breathing, muscle relaxation, mindfulness. 

Thus, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy can help you lower stress levels naturally. This can help in managing anxiety disorders, social phobias, and other mental illnesses.

Key Takeaways

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is an effective treatment for anxiety, depression, PTSD, phobias, and various other mental health conditions. It helps patients understand how their thought processes work and design the right strategies to cope with stressful situations.

While working with therapists, patients can easily determine their negative thoughts, where they originated from, the evidence supporting, and against them. This way, they can change the way they respond to certain situations.

Want to learn more about Cognitive Behavioral Therapy or seek professional help for managing your negative thoughts? Visit a reliable medical clinic today.