Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

For CBT to be effective, the patient must be an active participant in his or her own transformation. CBT works because there is a connection between thinking and mood or behavior. Generally, when beginning a course of CBT, the therapist chooses to work with the patient in one specific area. Maybe it’s a failing marriage. Perhaps it’s a lack of self-love that’s causing depression. Perhaps the individual struggles to find acceptance at work. Whatever the case, having this starting point helps the patient see specific areas where he or she is allowing negative thinking to affect daily life, and how that thinking is affecting life.

At that point, the therapist will work to identify those instances when the situation appears, and how the patient responds to it. If every time you see your boss at work, you respond in an undesirable way, then the therapist may attempt to identify all the situations in which you might encounter your boss, and then all the ways you respond negatively when you do. Some of this might require some homework on your part, as you might not be able to articulate all of the negative responses you have within a one-hour therapy session.

After getting a basic road map of your triggers and responses, your next goal will be to identify those triggers at the moment they occur. Later on, when you journal about these incidents, you should also make an effort to explain how you responded to them. Your therapist should be able to help you stay objective as you consider whether these responses were healthy; you may attempt to justify your behavior to yourself, but a good therapist will catch you in your self-deception and talk you through how you might have been able to make a healthier choice.

This hopefully leads to healthier responses when you face triggers the next time. It also should begin to show you that you can think about stressful situations in a healthier way. Perhaps this can even get you to think about being triggered in a healthier way. Eventually, you may come to view being triggered as a normal part of the human condition. Everyone gets triggered after all; what sets us apart from each other perhaps is how we respond to those events, and whether we can view them as opportunities.

CBT can produce excellent results when used to treat addictions, phobias, stress, trauma, anxiety, or mood disorders like depression or bipolar disorder. Therapists can use one-on-one or group talk therapy, role playing, relaxation techniques, exposure therapy, homework, and journaling. The goal is always to get the patient to apply what he or she is learning, assess the results, and get feedback from the therapist. With this iterative process, success is not guaranteed, but progress is almost a certainty.