Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a form of psychological treatment that has been demonstrated to be effective for a range of problems including depression, anxiety disorders, alcohol and drug use problems, marital problems, eating disorders, and severe mental illness. Several core principles guide CBT intervention including the belief that psychological distress is based in part on faulty thinking patterns, and unhelpful behavioral patterns. Numerous research studies suggest that CBT leads to significant improvement in functioning and quality of life. In many studies, CBT has been demonstrated to be as effective as, or more effective than, other forms of psychological therapy or psychiatric medications.
Depression
CBT is evidence-based for treatment of depression and helps clients with transforming automatic thoughts, cognitive distortions, and addressing underlying beliefs and schemas. Cognitive behavior therapy is a structured, didactic, and goal-oriented form of therapy. The approach is hands-on and practical wherein the therapist and patient work in a collaborative manner with the goal of modifying patterns of thinking and behavior to bring about a beneficial change in the patient's mood and way of living his/her life. It is used to help a wide range of problems, and appropriate treatment protocols are applied depending on the diagnosis and problems the patient is facing.
Anxiety
Anxiety is the mind and body's reaction to stressful, dangerous, or unfamiliar situations. It's the sense of uneasiness, distress, or dread you feel before a significant event. A certain level of anxiety helps us stay alert and aware, but for those suffering from an anxiety disorder, it feels far from normal - it can be completely debilitating. CBT often focuses on replacing negative automatic thoughts that can occur in generalized anxiety disorder. CBT is typically conceptualized as a short-term, skills-focused treatment aimed at altering maladaptive emotional responses by changing the patient's thoughts, behaviors, or both.
Panic Disorder
The cycle of panic begins with the thought of catastrophe and misinterpretation of a series of events, physical sensations, or mental events. While disasters and misinterpreted stimuli are usually the normal consequences of conditions such as situational changes in blood pressure, stress, and fatigue, the person misinterprets these symptoms. These misinterpretations are quite convincing at the time. When misinterpretations occur, security and avoidance behaviors towards coping develop, and selective attention to internal events continues the cycle. In treating panic disorder, CBT may include desensitization to triggers that provoke anxiety.
“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”
— Albert Einstein