Behavioral therapy is a broad term for different kinds of therapy used to treat mental health problems.
This type of therapy tries to find and help change behaviors that could hurt the person or be unhealthy. It is based on the idea that all behaviors can be changed because they are learned. Treatment usually focuses on current problems and how to fix them.
Sooner or later researchers found that behaviors occur in response to cognition and out-thought pattern.
An American psychiatrist, Aoran Beck, introduced cognitive behavior therapy. You have learned about behavior therapy so far. Let’s see what’s cognitive behavior therapy.
What Is Cognitive Behavior Therapy?
Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is a type of therapy that helps you see how you think and act in ways that aren’t helpful such as when you are in depression or having anxiety or any other psychological disorder.
CBT tries to help you figure out how your feelings and thoughts affect what you do and how they do so. Once you see these patterns, you can start to learn how to change your actions and come up with new ways to deal with things.
CBT is more about the present and less about the past. For some conditions and some people, other kinds of psychotherapy are just as good as or even better than psychoanalysis. The main point is that there is no one size that works for everyone. In case of failed therapy, you should have your CT scan test so you can understand the abnormality.
Some people find behavior therapy helpful and some of them find cognitive behavior therapy helpful so let’s move to the techniques of cognitive behavior therapy.
A study done in 2018 on CBT for anxiety in young people found that the method seemed to work well in the long run. At the follow-up, which happened 2 or more years after therapy ended, more than half of the people in the study no longer met the criteria for anxiety.
Table of Contents
Cognitive Behavior Therapy Techniques
Your therapist will decide which CBT strategies to use after talking with you and learning more about the problem you want help with.
The 9 strategies below are some of the most common CBT techniques:
1- Reframing Or Restructuring The Mind
This means taking a close look at the ways you think negatively.
Maybe you tend to generalize too much, think the worst will happen, or put too much weight on small details. This way of thinking can change what you do, and it can even come true on its own.
Your therapist will ask you about how you think in certain situations so that you can figure out bad habits. Once you know what they are, you can learn how to change them so they are more positive and helpful.
For example, “I blew the report because I’m completely useless” can become “That report wasn’t my best work, but I’m a valuable employee and I contribute in many ways.”
2- Guided Discovery
During guided discovery, the therapist will get to know your point of view. Then they’ll ask you questions that are meant to make you question your beliefs and open your mind.
You might be asked to show proof that supports your assumptions and proof that doesn’t.
In the process, you’ll learn to look at things from new angles you might not have thought of before. This can help you pick a better way to go.
3- Therapy With Exposure
Fears and phobias can be faced with the help of exposure therapy. The therapist will slowly show you things that scare or worry you while giving you advice on how to deal with them at the time.
Small steps can be taken to do this. Over time, being exposed to something can make you feel less vulnerable and more sure of your ability to deal with it.
4- Keeping A Journal And A List Of Thoughts
Writing has been used for a long time as a way to get in touch with one’s own thoughts.
Your therapist may ask you to write down both the negative thoughts that came up between sessions and the positive thoughts that you could choose instead.
Another writing task is to keep track of the new ideas and actions you’ve tried since the last session. When you write it down, you can see how far you’ve come.
5- Planning Activities And Getting People To Do Things
Putting something on your calendar can help if you tend to put off or avoid doing something because of fear or anxiety. Once you’ve made a choice, you may be more likely to stick with it.
Setting up a schedule for your activities can help you form good habits and give you plenty of chances to use what you’ve learned.
6- Behavioral Experiments
Behavior experiments are often used to treat anxiety disorders that involve thinking about the worst-case scenario.
You will be asked to guess what will happen before you do something that makes you nervous. You’ll talk about whether or not the prediction came true later.
Over time, you might start to realize that the predicted disaster is not as likely to happen as you thought. Most likely, you’ll start with tasks that cause less stress and build up from there.
Techniques For Calming Down And Getting Rid Of Stress
In CBT, you might learn some progressive relaxation techniques, such as:
Deep breathing, muscle relaxation exercises, and visualizing
You’ll learn useful skills that will help you feel less stressed and more in charge. This can help with phobias, social anxiety, and other things that cause stress.
1- Role-Playing
Role-playing can help you try out different ways to act in situations that could be hard. Playing out what could happen can help calm your nerves and can be used to:
2- Improving Problem-Solving Skills
getting used to and more comfortable with certain situations
Getting better at social skills, being more assertive, and talking to people. One study reveals that By looking at 104 people, researchers found evidence that CBT can also help people with major depression and PTSD improve their cognitive function.
3- Successive Approximation
This means breaking down tasks that seem too hard into smaller, more manageable steps. Each step builds on the one before it, so you get more and more confident as you go.
Things You Should Consider
Cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) is a type of short-term therapy that has been proven to work. It looks at how your thoughts, feelings, and actions are linked to each other and how they can affect each other.
CBT uses a lot of different ways to help people. Try to contact your therapist, he will help you figure out which CBT strategy will work best for you based on the kind of problem you want help with.
