What is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)?
It is natural to feel overwhelmed or stuck in patterns that no longer serve you. CBT is a goal-oriented, practical approach designed to help you navigate life's challenges by understanding the connection between your thoughts, your feelings, and your actions, empowering you to move forward with confidence.
An Evidence-Based Foundation
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is a widely researched form of psychological treatment grounded in the science of how our brains process information and emotions. It operates on the principle that our internal dialogue and external actions are deeply intertwined, and that by adjusting one, we can often significantly improve the other.
The CBT Model: How It Works
Thoughts
What we think can often affect how we feel and act. For example, if you think "I'm not good at this," you might feel discouraged and stop trying.
Feelings
How we feel can often affect what we think and do. For example, feeling anxious might lead to worried thoughts about the future and avoiding anxiety-provoking situations as a result.
Behaviours
What we do can affect how we think and feel. For example, avoiding a difficult task can reinforce the belief that you can't handle it.
How CBT Helps in Everyday Life
- Support with Symptoms and Diagnoses: CBT is one of the most evidence-backed therapies for most mental health concerns (e.g., anxiety, depression, eating disorders, personality/identity concerns, trauma, and so on).Â
- Support with practical, real-time strategies: CBT is a present-focused, practical approach that offers real-time coping strategies, mindfulness techniques, and practical approaches to navigating your thoughts, feelings, and behaviours.
- Support with general self-care: Many CBT strategies can be applied to core areas of self-care such as sleep, nutrition, physical activity, social connection, and recreation time.
- Support with Sticky Feelings/Thoughts about Yourself, Others, and the World: Sometimes we can have long-lasting (and painful) thoughts that span areas like self-blame, blaming others, despair and hopelessness, or low self-worth/low self-esteem. CBT directly addresses these thoughts and feelings to build you up by targeting unhelpful thought patterns (i.e., 'thought traps' or 'cognitive distortions').
At Isaacs Psychology, we partner with you to apply evidence-based techniques to your specific life situation.