CBT

Understanding CBT

One of the most widely known and practiced evidence-based therapies is called cognitive behavior therapy (CBT). CBT is one approach to understanding our mental health. CBT explains that our thoughts, behaviors, and feelings are all connected and impact each other. CBT is a type of psychotherapy that helps people learn how to identify and change unhelpful patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaviors.

A real-life example:

Imagine Mark found out that he was not invited to a party on Friday night. Mark may have the thought: “no one likes me.”

How do you think he feels? Probably, sad.

Our thoughts and feelings influence our behaviors (and vice versa). So maybe because Mark thinks that no one likes him and feels sad, he then decides to avoid that group of peers at lunch and sit in the school library. Then they also avoid him because he is being cold.

After spending lunch in the library and not hearing from some friends, Mark may have the thought, “Wow! I’m a loser” and start to feel even more upset. This all started with the assumption that Mark wasn’t invited to the party because no one likes him. Unfortunately, we don’t know why he wasn’t invited, so the assumption can have serious negative effects when the real reason he wasn’t invited was because of something else.

Do you see those connections? What we DO influences how we THINK and FEEL.