What is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Cognitive-behavioral therapy or cognitive behavior therapy is a type of anxiety treatment that has proven to be particularly effective in the treatment of a variety of different anxiety disorders. Success has been especially high when treating social phobia and panic disorder with CBT. By changing the way in which people think the cognitive side of this type of therapy helps people to change the behavior which is preventing them from overcoming their anxiety and fears.
The behavioral side of CBT therapy aims to change people’s reactions to situations that lead to anxiety. A key part of the behavioral side of CBT is called exposure. During exposure people confront the things that they fear within a safe environment.
Cognitive-behavioral therapy involves talking with a trained professional (such as a psychiatrist, psychologist, social worker, or counselor) to help to learn how to deal with the problems that cause or trigger anxiety or panic.
There are two sides to Cognitive-behavioral therapy
- The Cognitive side
- Behavioral side.
Cognitive Element
The aim of the cognitive therapy element of CBT is to change people’s thinking patterns. There are often embedded thinking patterns that are stopping people from overcoming their anxiety disorder or fears. By changing these patterns through CBT anxiety is often overcome successfully.
Someone with a panic disorder may fear that the symptoms of panic attacks which they experience are the same symptoms of a heart attack. When you have an anxiety disorder it is quite normal to catastrophize everything and think up the worst possible scenarios. Through CBT people can learn to recognize these poor thought patterns and change them
Someone who suffers from social phobia may well spend a great deal of time worrying that other people are continually watching them or even laughing at them. Through CBT they can learn to interpret social situations far more favorably and start to overcome their phobia.
Behavioral Element
The behavior therapy element of CBT aims to change the way in which people react to situations that provoke their anxiety. The main part of this type of therapy is exposure to the very thing that they fear.
Someone who has OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) may have a fear of dirt and germs that is out of proportion with reality. Through a treatment called exposure and response prevention the therapist might encourage them to get their hands dirty and then try to go for a certain period of time before washing. They would then help the patient to cope with the anxiety that results from this.
By repeating this exercise several times the anxiety sufferer gradually retains themselves to behave differently so that their anxiety diminishes. Someone suffering from social phobia may be well be encouraged to spend time in social situations that cause them anxiety avoiding their feelings of anxiety. They may even be asked to make what are considered to be small social faux pas in order to test other people’s reactions. By doing this they soon learn that other people’s reactions to them and their behavior are not as harsh as they thought. In time the person’s social anxiety will start to fade.
For someone with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder the exposure therapy might involve recalling a traumatic event in detail re-experiencing it in a safe situation. When this is done carefully, with a therapist’s support they can defuse the anxiety that is associated with the memory of the traumatic event.. Another behavioral technique involves teaching coping mechanisms such as deep breathing exercises which will help teh patient to learn how to cope with anxious situations more positively.
Behavioral therapy on its own, without the cognitive element, has been used effectively to treat certain phobias for many years. This would involve exposure where the person is exposed gradually to the thing or situation that they fear. Initially, this exposure might be with pictures or recordings. As time progresses the patient may well be able to actually confront the situation or thing that they fear, initially with the therapist there for support but eventually with the aim of them being able to overcome their fear alone.
If you undertake to go through cognitive-behavioral therapy or behavioral therapy, you would only go through with the exposure side of things when you are completely ready. The level and frequency of exposure would be completely within your control and teh therapist would introduce things at a pace which you could handle.
The main aim of behavioral therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy is to reduce or eliminate anxiety by changing the beliefs or behaviors that cause and reinforce the anxiety disorder.
Avoiding feared situations or objects stops someone from learning that it is harmless. In the same way, carrying out compulsive rituals in OCD gives someone relief from anxiety and stops them thinking rational thoughts about contamination or danger.
To be effective, CBT or behavioral therapy needs to be aimed at the person’s specific anxiety disorder. A therapy technique or regime that is effective for someone with a fear of spiders is not going to work for someone who has a fear of social situations. It is important that the therapist gets to know the patient and fully understand their anxiety disorder so that they can tailor their therapy to their specific problems.
Behavioral therapy and CBT have no harmful side effects so can be tried out safely by anyone. There may be a slight increase in anxiety initially but the therapist will support teh patient throughout the process. Patients are often given homework, or exercises to try at home to help them to start to face their fears in a small way.
Therapy will usually last around twelve weeks. The therapy can be carried out in a group environment providing that everyone within the group is suffering similar anxieties. Group therapy is very effective for anyone suffering from social phobia. It is thought that when the treatment stops the beneficial effects of CBT and behavioral therapy last longer than other treatments for people suffering from panic disorders.
Sometimes this type of treatment is combined with a course of medication. The idea being that the medication will help to control the symptoms of anxiety whilst new behaviors are learnt through CBT.
It is vital that you give any anxiety treatment time to take effect.
Learn How to help with anxiety when someone you know is suffering from an anxiety disorder.