What is CBT and How Does It Help Anxiety?
Anxiety disorders are the most common mental health condition in the world. In fact, the number one reason why anyone visits a doctor is anxiety. This potentially life-saving emotion has slowly become more often dysfunctional and debilitating. Countless people endure sleepless nights, social isolation, panic attacks, and much more because they’ve temporarily lost the ability to discern real from imagined dangers.
In response to this ongoing crisis, the realm of mental healthcare has developed many effective treatment approaches for anxiety-related distress. One of these modalities is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) — a popular form of talk therapy with many possible applications.
What is CBT?
CBT is a type of talk therapy created to directly address unhealthy thought patterns. Such cognitive distortions can impact all of our daily choices in insidious ways. If they are not addressed, negative thinking habits can become normalized. For example, feeling anxious can feel like your default setting. CBT can help you:
● Identify cognitive distortions and anxiety triggers
● Stop anxious episodes in their tracks
● Reframe your thought patterns so you feel more in control of what you think and feel
● Dramatically decrease impulsive behaviors
While it falls squarely into the category of talk therapy, CBT also focuses heavily on behaviors. Put simply, a CBT therapist encourages you to focus on your thought patterns, particularly distorted thinking. From there, it can be easier to identify how one’s thoughts directly impact their behavioral choices.
How Does CBT Help Anxiety?
Let’s add to the information above. A crucial step for anyone struggling with anxiety is to recognize that it is their own thinking that is causing stress. Sure, they have stress in their lives, but how they perceive it and respond to it is the source. Thus, CBT can pre-empt this pattern by helping clients:
Develop Mindfulness: When your CBT therapist guides you to become more mindful, it slams the brakes on anxiety spirals. Staying in the present moment is an ideal antidote to anxious habits like replaying the past and fearing the future.
Accept Uncertainty: The goal is not a life without uncertainty. That’s impossible. But your CBT sessions can help you accept that you cannot control everything. Learning to co-exist with life’s inevitable uncertainty leads to a massive decrease in anxiety triggers.
Identify Triggers: Speaking of triggers, many of them can seem invisible. CBT is especially helpful in teaching us how to recognize what consistently sets us off. When we’re aware of our triggers, we create a useful space between stimulus and reaction.
Reduce Rumination: Anyone dealing with anxiety can tell you all about its tall tales. Anxiety’s deceptions can leave you ruminating over events that create self-doubt. CBT supplies the tools you need to nip rumination in the bud.
Resist Perfectionism: CBT helps clients channel their emotions into finding meaning in experiences without using labels like success or failure.
Reframe Distorted Thinking Habits: Flawed thought patterns can have you feeling stuck. An experienced CBT therapist helps you comprehend that healing begins with addressing how we think.
Outcomes like this can happen smoothly and swiftly during your CBT treatment. You’ll get homework and be encouraged to depend on yourself to do the work needed to think healthy and productive thoughts.
Getting Started With CBT For Anxiety
Again, anxiety disorders are incredibly common. There’s no reason to feel ashamed of it. In fact, that could be one of the cognitive distortions you’ll want to shift by trying cognitive behavioral therapy. In as few as 12 to 20 sessions, your CBT therapist can have you moving progressively along the road to recovery. If you have questions or concerns, I invite you to reach out and make contact. Let’s get you started soon!