How Does CBT Work and What Can It Help With?

For nearly one-third of American adults, they’ll be diagnosed with an anxiety disorder at some point in their lives. If you or someone you know struggles with an anxiety disorder, a treatment to consider is cognitive behavioral therapy. 

Throughout this article, we will discuss what cognitive behavioral therapy is and how it can help those with anxiety and how it can help those with anxiety and other mental health concerns, along with some of the techniques used throughout the process.

Who it can benefit

Cognitive behavioral therapy has been found to be effective in treating many types of anxiety disorders, including panic and generalized anxiety disorders, specific phobias, noise, sensitivity, anxiety, and social anxiety disorder. It can also be beneficial for someone with depression and sleep difficulty.

Understanding CBT

Cognitive behavioral therapy is defined as a type of psychotherapy that teaches skills to change and interrupt problematic and negative thoughts and behaviors that can exacerbate mental health problems.

One of the main goals is to help improve mood and functioning through changing a person's thoughts and behaviors. 

It can be provided in group sessions or individually and should be done by a licensed therapist. CBT helps understand thoughts, feelings and behaviors are linked in by changing one of those areas will impact the others

A therapist using this technique is typically more structured with their approach, and each session will focus on specific skills. This will help encourage the participants to apply what they learned between sessions. This structured approach helps create tangible results fairly quickly by placing importance on behavioral aspects.

How it works

CBT is when a therapist helps with skills to manage symptoms and create healthy habits. These treatments are meant to be shorter-term therapy throughout weekly sessions at length determined by the therapist.

CBT techniques

Once the therapist and the client can identify troubling thought and behavior patterns, CBT can officially begin. The main goal will be teaching skills that help replace negative patterns with other helpful ones. 

This therapy is more solution-focused, and the therapist will work with the client to outline and work towards their specific goals with various techniques outlined below.

Tracking patterns

Early treatment can focus on the client recognizing patterns that can be problematic. From there, they’ll work on how to stop them before they can worsen. The therapist may suggest doing various tracking assignments, such as logs where the client will track their emotions, behaviors, thoughts, and internal and external surroundings that they encounter throughout the day and in certain situations. 

Problem-solving skill enhancement

This step encourages the client to think through possible scenarios and options in to evaluate the consequences of both. For example, those with anxiety tend to focus on finding short-term relief, and they’re not necessarily thinking ahead to what could occur down the road.

Improving relaxation techniques

This will help improve the impact that anxiety has on you and help decrease symptoms more effectively and efficiently. This could include meditating, journaling, or other calming activities that you enjoy.

Minimizing anxious thoughts

CBT can help those who tend to ruminate when they feel anxious. This therapy can help interrupt distorted or negative thoughts that help magnify anxiety.

Reframing negative thoughts

For example, your therapist might help you reframe anxious feelings and think more positively. You have about an upcoming event by thinking about positive things and people you’ll experience there. This could include friends or family you haven't seen in a while or a particular event you're looking forward to.

Interrupt, then stop negative thoughts.

Similar to the step above, this step focuses on interrupting unhelpful behavioral thoughts and opinions. 

If you or someone you know struggle with anxiety, consider reaching out about possibly trying cognitive behavioral therapy.