What Does CBT Stand For And What Can It Help?

Cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, is one of the most popular forms of psychotherapy, helpful for treating numerous mental health issues. It's an evidence-based treatment, and plenty of research has supported its success.

The term therapy gets used a lot, but many people don't fully understand its scope. It's not a "one size fits all" approach. So, while CBT may have worked well for your friend, it might not give you the same results. This is why it's imperative to work with your therapist to ensure you are getting the right form of treatment. Just as you should trust your doctor to properly diagnose and treat a physical condition, it's important to allow your therapist to recommend the best therapy. After all, this is the expert you are going to for help. You can express your interest in CBT, but be open to other forms of therapy if your therapist does not believe CBT is right for you.

How CBT Works

The process behind CBT is that our cognitive thought affects our feelings, which affect our behaviors. For example, you may think if you go to a party, everyone will ignore you, so you feel anxious and defeated, and thus decide you will not go to the party. This formula is essential because some therapies start by focusing on feelings rather than thoughts and might work to help a client feel less anxious first. 

Proponents of CBT, therefore, believe that CBT is more effective because it is straightforward and can be taught easily to most clients. According to this mentality, it is easier to state thought and examine it than it is to try to explore a feeling. With conditions such as chronic depression, it's imperative to identify and examine all the thoughts that are part of the condition, as there is likely not going to be just one.

It is a type of psychotherapy which focuses the client on the connection of thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. CBT works to help clients monitor and understand the thoughts they have, which then creates the feelings and behaviors they find uncomfortable or problematic.

What Does CBT Treat?

Cognitive behavior therapy has been used successfully to treat depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), panic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), various phobias, eating disorders, sleep problems, and substance abuse. CBT has also been shown to help people with medical conditions like irritable bowel syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome, and chronic pain conditions. In these cases, CBT helps clients change irrational or unhealthy thoughts to rational, healthy ones, which therefore reduces negative feelings and increases positive behaviors.

Continuing with the example above, the client would be able to say, "There is no reason to believe that everyone will ignore me. If for some reason I feel like I am being left out, I can talk to my friend Rachel since I know she will be there. I can do this." At that point, the client may feel less anxious and defeated and is often more likely to attend the event. In other words, CBT helps people change patterns of thought to produce new emotions and different behaviors.

Is CBT Effective?

The more complicated answer to CBT's effectiveness depends on a variety of factors. The client has to work on the skills their therapist teaches them all week, not just in session. This requires commitment from the client to examine and challenge thoughts continuously. The client has to believe it can work for them and be willing to explore changes. The client also must have some patience. It takes time to change thought patterns. If you go into CBT expecting significant success after one or two sessions, you are likely to be frustrated. Finding out if CBT is right for you, opposed to other forms of therapy, involves talking with someone with proper training in CBT for an evaluation and then getting started with the work.

Many people choose between CBT, medication, or a combination of the two. This is something that depends on your unique situation and the advice of your doctor and therapist. CBT has been shown to be an effective treatment with and without medication.

What Does CBT Involve?

Different therapists may proceed differently using CBT, often depending on the needs of the patient. CBT is typically introduced with an explanation of the process, the length of time that may be necessary for treatment, and a full exploration of underlying thoughts that may be causing the presenting problem. CBT incorporates the use of homework to record feelings and thoughts, journaling, relaxation techniques, learned coping skills, and in some cases, mindfulness. The basis of CBT is that there are common cognitive distortions (the negative thoughts) that lead to negative feelings and behaviors, and these distortions must be challenged. A common one is called magnification, where the individual has a negative event occur, and it feels insurmountable instead of being viewed as a single event and a solvable problem.

There are many different exercises your therapist may teach you on how to challenge these thoughts. It may be writing down the idea and looking at the evidence. Is there any information that supports this negative thought? Is there evidence that disproves the negative thought? If the worst thing happens, then what? The purpose is to take the power of these overwhelming feelings and learn to view problems as solvable. There are many other exercises your therapist can do with you. As mentioned before, CBT as a whole is not a one size fits all, and neither are the various techniques and exercises that are part of CBT.

Choosing A CBT Therapist

When selecting a CBT provider, you should look for a licensed therapist who has practical experience and training with CBT techniques. It's also a good idea to find a therapist who has experience using CBT with your specific problem or issue, such as anxiety or depression. You can ask potential therapists about their training and experience with CBT and what issues they work with most successfully.

If you're unable to locate a therapist who offers CBT in your area, BetterHelp is an online therapy platform that hosts thousands of therapists who utilize CBT in video, phone, and chat sessions.

Online cognitive behavioral therapy has been found to be at least just as effective as face-to-face therapy. In fact, a University of Zurich study found it to be more effective in the medium and long-term than in-person therapy, with just no more depression able to be detected in 57% of clients at 3 months post-treatment, compared to just 42% of in-person therapy users. Another study, which actually reviewed 373 studies of internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy (ICBT), found it to be particularly effective in treating mental health conditions like depression, general or severe anxiety, social anxiety, PTSD, mood disorders, and other conditions that can make it difficult to get to in-person sessions.

What’s more, BetterHelp tends to be cheaper than traditional in-person therapy. This is because you don’t have to commute or pay for transportation to get to and from sessions, and our therapists don’t have to pay to rent out office space. Additionally, sessions can be conducted anytime, anywhere, via a variety of mediums – phone call, video chat, instant messaging/texting, or live voice recording can all be used. Continue reading below to find reviews of some of our licensed mental health professionals, from people benefitting from online cognitive behavioral therapy.

Counselor Reviews

"Dr. Kapil has been marvelous in helping me organize my thoughts for better outcomes and growth through CBT. She is great with her follow-up (even when I'm not so great at replying). Highly recommend!"

"I chose Douglas because he counsels using cognitive behavioral therapy and anger management - which is the kind of therapy I need. Douglas comes up with clear solutions and I appreciate that. I didn't want a therapist to tell me to talk about my day and how does that make me feel and that it's normal to have these feelings. I know it is normal to feel angry sometimes, but I wanted to understand how to recognize it and address it. So if you need constructive conversation with fast results for everyday annoyances and (especially effective child rearing advice!) I think Douglas is your therapist."