Sarah! What the heck is… CBT?
One of my favorite things to do is offer psychoeducation for people about therapy and what to expect, especially if you’re new! As someone who’s been in the field for a hot second, all the acronyms that we see floating around make sense because I’ve had a lot of exposure to them but the average person probably hasn’t!
In my blog series called Sarah! What the heck is…? I’m going to try and give a general overview of therapy acronyms, from interventions like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) or Licenses (like LMHC, which stands for Licensed Mental Health Counselor).
This series is meant to give some general information about common acronyms associated with therapy and mental health but is by no means a fully comprehensive understanding of each individual item.
I encourage you to do more thorough research if you’d like to know more!
So let’s get started!
We’re going to begin with one of the most widely used therapeutic interventions, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, often referred to as CBT.
CBT is a form of talk therapy. It’s widely applicable for a variety of mental health concerns from anxiety and depression to OCD and PTSD.
So, what exactly is it?
CBT explores and helps you understand how your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors intersect.
You work with your therapist in sorting out situations that cause you distress, how you think about them, which influences how you feel, which then influences how you behave.
CBT believes that by changing how you think about a particular situation, you can then improve how you feel and how you behave in similar situations.
In CBT, the belief is that it’s possible to learn better coping skills to relieve discomforting symptoms you may be experiencing and to live a happier, more fulfilled life.
CBT comes with homework, usually worksheets, reading, and/or exercises you’ll do outside of session that helps you practice skills and better understanding how your brain operates.
You would review this homework with your therapist and your therapist may help you if there are roadblocks or further exploration you’d like to do.
CBT is a short-term therapeutic approach and may go for only a few months, rather than years.
If you’re someone who likes structure or you’re looking to build a baseline understanding of how your brain works, CBT might be helpful for you.
CBT is helpful for a variety of mental health concerns including:
Anxiety
Depression
OCD
PTSD
You can find more information here:
American Psychological Association. (2017). What is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy?. American Psychological Association. https://www.apa.org/ptsd-guideline/patients-and-families/cognitive-behavioral
Cleveland Clinic. (2022). Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). Cleveland Clinic; Cleveland Clinic. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/21208-cognitive-behavioral-therapy-cbt
If you think CBT might be for you and you’re interested in exploring more, schedule a free consultation here!
