What Is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy? Benefits and Uses

What Is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy? Benefits and Uses

Being one of the most important and well-known concepts of applied psychology, there are still people who do not know with certainty what Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). However, it is cataloged as one of the most important because it allows addressing many types of problems through different techniques supported by science.

What is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy?

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a treatment that consists of therapies to deal with different psychological problems such as depression, anxiety, phobias, and so on. This treatment is one of the most effective applied in psychology and even in science. Many people with different types of problems, even with illnesses, have been able to obtain positive results with CBT. The goal of this therapy is to act on a person’s thoughts to change their way of being and help them control their emotions.

Treating illnesses or conditions with Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) actually tends to yield very efficient results. Professionals who provide this type of therapy often divide the problem presented by the client and work on each portion individually and scalable, so that they can try to change the dysfunctional thoughts of the patient so that they do not continue to generate negative reactions.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is really a useful treatment to control emotional problems. These are some of the things that can be treated with CBT:

• Managing symptoms of mental illness.
• Avoid relapses of symptoms of mental problems.
• Replace medications during mental illness.
• Learn new strategies for managing bad situations.
• Control emotions and thoughts.
• Learn new ways to communicate.
• Overcome pain, loss, or emotional trauma related to violence or abuse.
• Coping with a medical problem.

Science of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy had its origin in Cognitive Psychology, starting from other behavioral therapies. Unlike other therapeutic treatments, this is one of the therapies that is based on the scientific method. Other authors also mention that this therapy is related to behaviorism because it follows a demanding methodology and maintains the precepts of the scientific method, which allows an objective evaluation of the progress and results obtained during the treatments.

In order to better explain the science behind CBT, we can see that a psychologist or therapist who performs treatment of this type divides the problem into several parts and then confronts it one by one until an optimal and effective solution to the problem is achieved, just as the scientific method works.

Another mention of the science of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is the ability with which doctors can treat their patients neurologically so that they can change their thoughts and their way of thinking and subsequently change their behavior and their way of being. It is necessary to know how the human brain works in order to develop and apply the different techniques and methods that make this therapy so efficient.

In short, among the different types of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) that always exist, scientific methods are used to know how a person’s brain works and their behaviors, since they not only depend on physical stimuli, but also on the way they think and how their brain processes information. With all the knowledge about the brain and its impact on each person’s life, different techniques are applied to enable them to become better people and turn bad into good.

Benefits and Uses of CBT

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) has multiple benefits depending on each person’s condition. It is recommended for conditions such as manic depression, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, chronic fatigue syndrome, schizophrenia, insomnia, etc. This therapy is able to improve anyone’s life, reduce their stress levels and more. Other benefits of CBT include

Decrease the Symptoms of Depression

CBT is the most prominent and well-known treatment when it comes to depression; no matter what type of depression it is or where it originates from; hopelessness, low motivation, anger, etc. It’s also a great way to prevent future relapses.

With Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) you can say goodbye once and for all to those antidepressant medications that often don’t work. It is also effective in treating depression after childbirth.

Reduce Anxiety

Another benefit of this therapy is that it can help reduce anxiety. If you are suffering from panic disorders, social anxiety disorders, generalized anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorders, or post-traumatic stress disorder, then you should start CBT treatment immediately.

During cognitive-behavioral therapy, different techniques can be applied, such as psychoeducation that allows us to study the nature of fear and anxiety, self-control of symptoms, cognitive restructuring, and elimination of ineffective safety signals, among others that allow us to control and eliminate anxiety.

Treat Eating Disorders

In the case of eating disorders, CBT is based on the underlying psychopathology in relation to all eating disorders, which allows them to improve impulse control when they are associated with binge eating, reduces the feeling of isolation and allows that the patient feels better with adequate food.

These treatments can also treat conditions such as anorexia and bulimia nervosa. So many people with bulimia have resorted to it as a treatment 60% more efficient than others applied to combat this condition or anorexia.

Reducing Addiction and Substance Abuse

Several studies conducted in different institutes have shown that Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) brings great benefit to people suffering from addictions. It reduces addictive behaviors such as smoking, drinking, and other drugs, as well as reducing addiction to gambling. This therapy can be very useful to control conditions like this and with more efficient and proven results in the long term.

Improves Self-Confidence and Self-Esteem

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy treatment can not only be applied to a person who suffers or suffers from something serious but can also be a tool for those people who tend to have bad thoughts, low self-esteem or lack of confidence and security in themselves. This therapy teaches people to change those bad thoughts for positive thoughts and let a person destroy themselves for negative or self-destructive thoughts or ideas. It also helps to improve language and the way we communicate with what surrounds us, and also to reduce stress levels.

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Uses

The use of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) can be appreciated on a number of disorders and psychological conditions, including anxiety, phobias, addictions, etc. However, this type of therapy is one of the most open to any case as it allows to focus on a specific objective and study the possibility of reaching it relatively easily but efficiently.

A CBT treatment must take time, dedication and effort. People who need this type of therapy must be willing to sacrifice many things for their well-being, and they must also be able to self-control and self-analyze, to learn how they function internally and how this influences their daily lives.

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is not only a treatment for people who are sick or have extreme difficulties, but it should also be considered as an option to learn to be better people and see what we can improve to have more confidence in ourselves and in what surrounds us. It may not seem necessary and we believe that we are strong and that we can face anything, but in reality, there may be situations during our life in which we need something more, help to get ahead. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) could be a great help that can help us and motivate us to get ahead when we least expect it.

Originally published at https://www.brainmemind.com/