Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: Benefits and Risks

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a common medical approach for psychological treatment. It is widely used in treating anxiety and depression, among other mental illnesses. The core principle of CBT is to get to the root of patients’ psychological problems and bring changes in their thinking patterns and behaviors. This psychotherapy helps break down the problems into smaller parts and deal with them efficiently. The numerous benefits of cognitive behavioral therapy and the minimum risks make it a commonly adopted medical practice.

Get to know in detail about CBT’s benefits and risks in this blog!

What is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy?

Cognitive behavioral therapy is talk therapy that emphasizes identifying and replacing the patient’s negative thought patterns with positive thoughts. This approach helps solve mental issues by reinforcing healthy behavior through a change in the patient’s thought process. It is the most common type of psychotherapy used to treat a wide range of mental issues, including depression, anxiety, substance abuse, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, and more.

Here are some common principles that CBT is based on:

Core Belief

The experiences that we have during our early childhood influence our belief system. Our core beliefs are our central ideas about ourselves, others, and the world in general. We tend to experience life situations depending on the core beliefs we hold. If we have negative views about the world, ourselves, or the future, we will be more likely to experience emotional distress. In CBT, your core beliefs are taken into account to identify the thought patterns of the patient.

Dysfunctional Assumptions

We tend to hold onto negative thoughts more easily. Our identification with negative thoughts and emotions causes dysfunctional assumptions about our life situations. Consequently, it leads to misinterpretation of reality, resulting in cognitive distortions. In CBT, the underlying maladaptive assumptions of a person are identified and then modified into more realistic and positive assumptions.

Automatic Negative Thoughts

Automatic Negative Thoughts (ANTs) are instinctive negative perceptions of reality. Such negative perceptions occur habitually and result in distressing emotions. As ANTs happen involuntarily, it is often difficult to recognize them. CBT aims to identify ANTs and readjust the thought process of a patient.

Goals of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Mental health professionals use CBT to treat and manage the mental and emotional health conditions of patients. This psychotherapy is known as one of the most effective treatment methods that can help solve various mental health issues.

Regardless of the treatment you are using CBT for, the goals include:

• Identifying negative thought patterns
• Bringing behavioral change through a modified thought process
• Regulating emotions more efficiently
• Restructuring the cognitive process of thoughts and emotions
• Bringing clarity to one’s perception of reality
• Increasing self-awareness
• Enhancing communication skills for healthier social connections
• Increasing problem-solving ability to tackle life challenges

How Does Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Work?

Besides the thought identification and modification of a patient, CBT treatment involves various other aspects. It involves challenging and replacing troubling negative thoughts and emotions with healthy thinking patterns, bringing changes in the patient’s behavior.

For example, for treating anxiety disorders involving detrimental thinking, mental health specialists use behavioral experiments. For socially anxious individuals, the behavioral experiment may involve attending at least one social event per week and talking to at least 3 to 5 people. Such an experiment will expose the patients to the situations they fear and help them reform their thought patterns.

The step-by-step working mechanism of cognitive behavioral therapy involves:

Step 1: Identification of troubling situations in life

The therapist will look into your present state of mental health. The primary goal of this step is to determine the troubling situations in your life that are causing the psychological issues. It may be any situation, such as divorce, loss of a loved one, and other upsetting circumstances. This step helps the therapist analyze your problem and set a goal for you to achieve from the treatment.

Step 2: Self-awareness

After identifying the underlying problem, the therapist will analyze your thoughts about the problem. It helps the therapist observe and understand your self-awareness and your interpretation of the troubling experience. This part of your therapy might also require you to keep a journal of your thoughts and feelings on a daily basis.

Step 3: Identification of negative thoughts

Your therapist will assist you in identifying your harmful thought patterns and behaviors that are contributing to making the situations more troubling for you. The process of recognizing the contributing thoughts involves paying attention to your responses in various settings. This technique helps focus on changing your automatic negative thoughts into more stable and positive thoughts.

Step 4: Reshaping negative thoughts

The therapist will help you understand your inaccurate perception of reality, which is responsible for your psychological distress. You have to reshape your negative thoughts to bring changes in your behavior, and your therapist will assist you in that. This also means you may have to let go of your core beliefs that are not serving you well.

It is not an easy process, but with the right steps, such as practicing new skills and challenging your old beliefs, it is possible!

Different Types of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

There are different types of CBT used for various treatment approaches. Some of the commonly used CBT treatment methods are:

1. Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT): CPT is a 12-session cognitive behavioral therapy mainly used for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It teaches you unique ways to handle upsetting thoughts caused by trauma.
2. Cognitive Therapy (CT): CT focuses on modifying cognitive distortions into realistic and positive thinking processes. It helps get rid of disturbing behavioral patterns that affect your daily life.
3. Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT): It is a CBT treatment that involves mindfulness practices, such as breathing exercises and awareness of the present moment. It is mainly used to detach you from automatic dysfunctional thought patterns.
4. Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT): DBT emphasizes the emotional and social aspects of an individual, such as their social connections or emotional responses. The benefit of this behavioral therapy is that it helps cope with unstable or disturbing emotions and negative behaviors.
5. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT): The ACT treatment approach involves acceptance of one’s negative thought patterns and behavior. Once you accept that you are thinking wrong, you can show commitment to adopting positive beliefs and healthy behavior.
6. Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT): REBT helps deal with challenging and unhelpful thought patterns. It is often used for conditions like depression, anxiety, disruptive behavior, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and more. It focuses on developing a new way of thinking to overcome negative thoughts by using techniques such as disputation and targeting emotional responses.
7. Psychodynamic Therapy: It involves a deeper understanding of one’s emotions and thoughts. It improves your understanding ability and helps you make better choices for yourself in various life situations.
8. Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR): MBSR is a meditation therapy targeted at stress management. It is mainly used to treat depression and anxiety disorders.
9. Motivational Interviewing (MI): It is a counseling method that emphasizes the patient’s motivation to bring change in their behavior. Through motivational interviewing, therapists encourage you to commit to change using motivational techniques.
10. Humanistic Therapy: This approach focuses on one’s unique qualities to lead a more fulfilling life. Humanistic therapy is based on the fundamental principle that every individual is unique and requires a unique therapy approach.
11. Exposure Therapy: Exposure therapy involves the exposure of patients, for a specific length of time, to the situations and objects they fear the most. This therapy helps reduce fear and anxiety associated with fearful situations in patients.

How Long Does Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Take?

Typically, a complete treatment process of cognitive behavioral therapy takes around 6 to 24 sessions. Each session of CBT lasts for about 30 to 60 minutes. However, the duration of the session and overall time frame of the treatment depend on various factors, such as:

• The issue you are dealing with
• The severity of the psychological issue you are facing
• Life situations you are going through
• Your response to the ongoing CBT sessions
• The compatibility of the CBT approach to your learning process
• Your willingness to participate in the therapeutic process actively
• Your treatment progress

Benefits of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Cognitive behavior therapy benefits patients in many ways. Here are some major benefits of behavioral therapy for psychological issues:

Makes You Aware of Negative Thinking

CBT helps you recognize the detrimental thought patterns and beliefs that influence your unhealthy behavior. It makes you recognize your automatic negative thoughts. Once you are aware of such thoughts and emotions, you can replace them with healthy thinking and bring changes in your behavior.

Improves Self-Esteem

Mental health issues often tend to lower your self-esteem because of vicious cycles of detrimental thoughts. CBT helps bring balance to your thought process and challenge your old beliefs. As a result, you will develop new ways of thinking, which helps improve your self-esteem.

Develop Effective Coping Skills

CBT provides you with new coping mechanisms to deal with your psychological issues efficiently. Additionally, it can help you cope with emotional trauma, anxiety, and depression. The process may include techniques like behavioral activation, cognitive restructuring, journaling, mindfulness, and more.

Emotions Management

CBT helps you manage your emotions by helping you identify your disturbing emotions. It helps you utilize proper cognitive control techniques to minimize the intensity of your emotions. Additionally, it allows you to bring down your impulsive behaviors and teaches you better coping techniques.

Develops Rational Thought Processes

With CBT, you can gain control over your thought patterns. The process of identifying the negative thoughts and practicing effective coping techniques will help you challenge your old belief system. Over time, you will be able to replace the negative thoughts with more rational thought processes.

Risks of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

There are not many risks associated with cognitive behavioral therapy. However, you can face some challenges and risks, depending on your unique needs and challenges, which are as follows:

• CBT needs your commitment: It may be hard for you to commit to following every practice suggested to you by your therapist in CBT. Cognitive behavioral therapy requires your active involvement throughout the treatment process in order to work. You have to incorporate the practices suggested by your therapist into your daily life. If you fail to do so, your therapy won’t be a success.
• It may not be sufficient: CBT may not be able to deal solely with more complex mental health issues. Even if it is used for intense psychological conditions, it may not be enough. You may also require additional treatment approaches, including interpersonal therapy and antidepressant medications.
• It can be uncomfortable: Since CBT is talk therapy, opening up to the therapist about your thoughts and emotions can be uncomfortable. It may temporarily trigger your past as well as childhood trauma and the disturbing emotions associated with it. However, all the discomfort fades as you progress.

Uses of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

The uses of cognitive behavioral therapy are spread across a wide range of psychological conditions, including:

• Anxiety
• Depression
• Eating disorders
• Panic attacks
• Phobias
• Personality disorders
• Anger issues
• Substance abuse

CBT can also be useful for other situations, such as:

• Stress management
• Relationship problems
• Divorce or break-ups
• Low self-esteem
• Insomnia
• Grief
• Chronic pain

How to Find a CBT Therapist?

The right CBT therapist is extremely crucial for the success of your treatment. However, the search for the most compatible therapist can be daunting. So, here are some quick tips for finding the best CBT therapist:

• Inquire with your trusted friends and family for recommendations
• You can ask for a referral with your primary care provider
• Ask your insurance company for a list of experienced CBT therapists
• Research using the online therapist directory
• Consult different therapists before deciding on a good fit

Conclusion

Cognitive behavioral therapy benefits you in several ways if you have the assistance of the right CBT therapist. If you are in search of a CBT practitioner for your psychological issues, New Era Rehabilitation is just a call away. We offer cognitive behavioral therapy sessions conducted by licensed and well-experienced therapists. We will cater to your needs through tailored therapy sessions and help you resolve your mental health problems.

So reach out to us today, and let us assist you with all we can!