10 proven ways CBT can help you "untangle" faulty thought patterns

What is CBT – Cognitive Behavior Therapy?

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy is a type of short-term, result-oriented psychotherapy treatment module which focuses on changing faulty and inaccurate cognitive patterns of an individual to promote improved mental health. It is categorized as a psycho-social intervention since it takes into account the surrounding social factors into the picture when providing psychological help to the individual.
 
The core premise of CBT is that at times a person’s own distorted self-image, low self-esteem, pessimistic thinking etc could be fuelling chronic dissatisfaction and mental agony and gradually causing the person to become anxious or depressed. CBT aims to challenge these faulty behavioral and emotional patterns and help an individual develop healthy coping strategies.
 
CBT derives its principles from both behavioral psychology and cognitive psychology. Much different from its predecessor, psychoanalysis, CBT is more action and result-oriented approach. Instead of trying to delve deeper and deeper into the unconscious mind to find the root cause of any psychological disorder, as is done in psychoanalysis, CBT relies on treating specific symptoms associated with a particular mental disorder.
 
CBT has gained immense popularity in the domain of mental healthcare as it is more practical, clear, and realistic compared to other treatment modalities. The factor of common-sense associated with CBT is the biggest appeal of this therapy. Most psychotherapists out there practice CBT as the first and main method of treating and helping patients. Not to mention a plethora of self-help books out there have the guiding principles of CBT at the crux. 
 

What are the steps followed in CBT?

Though the exact approach might differ from patient to patient and also as per the therapist,but broadly-speaking these are the 6 basic steps followed in CBT:
 
– Complete psychological assessment of the patient
– Reconceptualization of the issue 
– Acquirement of new skills
– Consolidation of skills and applying these in stressful situations
– Maintenance of the newly acquired coping skills
– Post CBT follow-up sessions and extended care
 
This framework, provided by Kanfer and Saslow, takes into account the problematic behaviour and thought patterns associated with it and what treatment/correction method would be required to mitigate these issues. 
 
Reconceptualization of the issue refers to looking at the issues from a completely different perspective. This stage sheds new light on the same event that triggered stress/anxiety or any other mental agony and tries to re-approach the same issue with a more optimistic point-of-view. This change in perspective often helps the patient see things in new light and initiates a chain reaction of better outlook, improved confidence levels, and positive attitude. 
 
These changes at the grassroot level in the psyche of the individual and how he/she views a particular problem or life in general is significant in treating the overall mental health condition, as per CBT. 
 
CBT therapists also ensure that once an individual has identified the key maladaptive behavior or perspective, he/she is able to learn better coping mechanisms to handle them. And also, that the patient is able to apply this newly learned set of positive strategies across every problem faced by him/her.
 
Beyond that, CBT therapists also have the responsibility of post CBT treatment assessment of the patients and providing extended psychiatric help if required. 
 

What are the different types of CBT?

Based on the demands of the situation and the level of urgency, there are different sub-modules of CBT practiced today:
 
BCBT or Brief Cognitive Behavior Therapy which is generally sought in cases where the urgency factor is high and there is no time for detailed sessions unlike classic CBT. It takes place over a couple of sessions and was initially designed to help curb the risk of suicide among mental health patients. Prevention of relapse of the initial suicidal behavior is the main aim in BCBT. 
 
Cognitive Emotional Behavioral Therapy was initially developed for patients with eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia but is now used in case of a wider scope psychiatric conditions such as anxiety and PTSD. This therapy primarily focuses on abnormal emotional responses to stressful conditions such as rage issues or distorted body-image (and thus a negative emotion towards eating). Patients are taught how to regulate these toxic emotional responses and deal with them better. 
 
Structured Cognitive Behavior Training  derives much of its principles and core philosophies from CBT but is implemented in a much more stringent and regimented manner. Also, unlike CBT, SCBT is a training period of finite duration and has specific goals assigned for specific duration of time. The main areas of application of this training are addiction treatment, substance abuse management, diabetes management, and even in the field of criminal psychology. 
 
Moral Reconation Therapy is specifically built for training felons overcome traits of antisocial personality disorder and narcissistic behavioral tendencies that will ensure lower repeat offenses. It is widely practiced in correctional facilities. 
 
Stress Inoculation Training is based on utilizing psychotherapy and humanistic training methods to pinpoint the stressors in the individual’s life and help him/her cope with stress and anxiety better. It occurs in 3 phases namely – self-monitoring of the patient, skill acquisition, and application of skills in stressful conditions.
 
Mindfulness based cognitive hypnotherapy is where the individual is trained to garner higher levels of awareness and reflective thinking by the help of hypnosis. It is designed to pinpoint subconscious tendencies and thoughts that might be at the core of faulty behaviour. 
 
Unified protocol is a treatment approach that can be successfully applied to a wide spectrum of depressive and anxiety disorders. It includes psycho-education, cognitive re-appraisal, emotional regulation, and behavior transformation. 
 

CBT : In a nutshell

CBT provides one of the best and most effective ways in empowering an individual with healthy coping mechanisms, the absence of which is believed to be a root cause in several widespread health conditions. CBT involves a therapist and an individual working together to understand the pattern of maladaptive thoughts and then gradually “unlearning” these faulty patterns in order to enhance mental well-being. However, it must be kept in mind that only a professional licensed psychotherapist or psychiatrist can recommend and provide this therapy.  This pathbreaking assimilation of cognitive and behavioral psychology has changed the face of modern psychotherapy and helped millions across the globe unlearn maladaptive behaviour.