Cognitive Therapy or Cognitive Behavourial Therapy (CBT) is a fancy name for a powerful self-help technique for dealing with emotional stress and negativity…
We could call it simply “thinking yourself better!”
Cognitive refers to thought processes, and cognitive therapy teaches us how to deal with emotional negativity by consciously changing the way we think…
Most of our anxiety is caused by the way we see things, and if we can change our view of the stressors in our life then we can manage stress better. If we can take control of our mental health and learn to deal with our negative emotions then we can feel more positive about controlling anxiety, stress and depression.
Popular guides to this therapy were written by Dr. David D. Burns from Pennsylvania Medical Center after a personal experience in which his thought processes severely influenced the way he felt in a situation…
You can read about this in the very informative book he wrote called Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy Revised and Updated.
In fact, we could all do with some life-coaching…
And the good news is that with an understanding of this therapy, we can help ourselves!
You can benefit greatly from a professional therapist to get you started or you can try this practice yourself…
Identify What Causes Negative Feelings
Are you depressed? Do you suffer from anxiety? Is frustration, anger or guilt or any other negative emotion a problem?
The true cause of negative emotions is a matter of opinion – suppressed feelings, chemical imbalance – but to cognitive therapists they represent distorted thinking.
The Greek philosopher, Epictetus would agree. He said…
“People are not disturbed by events themselves, but rather by the views they take of them.”
Some emotional turmoil is caused by problems early in life and some mental health problems are caused by chemical imbalances in the brain, and in recent years new anti-depressants have been hailed as the best way to treat all mood problems…
Psychologist Dr. Mark Sisti, associate director for the Center for Cognitive Therapy in New York says,
“Anti-depressants can help people with severe depression but in mild to moderate depression, cognitive therapy works as well or better. In addition, it costs less and has no side effects. For other mood problems – anxiety, stress, guilt or phobias – cognitive therapy is more helpful than medication.”
Could being your own cognitive therapist help you to deal with negative emotions that cause stress and anxiety in your life?
Perhaps…
Dr. Burns documented 10 types of distorted thinking or emotional traps that can lead to negative emotions and a feeling of mental discomfort.
Click here to see how many of these traps you fall into.
Then be sure to complete the cognitive therapy exercise by learning Seven Ways to Untwist your Thinking.
And, most important, the Seven Steps to Feeling Better will have you well on your way to using this new way of thinking to lessen the affect of stress and anxiety in your every day life.
Useful Links
Beating The Blues
What Is CBT?
Mental Health For All
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