lady attending a psychology session — Photo by Andrea Piacquadio

One of the best-known treatment approaches is cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is a form of psychological treatment that focuses on Identifying and addressing unhelpful patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviour.CBT is conducted through a therapy or counselling session where individuals discuss and talk with their psychologist or counsellor about adapting unhelpful thoughts and behaviours contributing to mental health problems. CBT is usually considered a short-term therapy ranging from about 5-20 sessions depending on the client’s situation, severity, support and approach to the change. Here is a list of some examples of mental health issues research shows CBT can be effective for treating:

Depression
Anxiety Disorder
Personality Disorder
Substance Use Disorder
Insomnia
Schizophrenia
Eating Disorders Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
Phobias
Sleep Disorders

How Does CBT Work:

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is a form of psychotherapy (talking therapy) that helps in treating your coping skills for dealing with mental, behavioural and physical problems. This process is usually done with a therapist who helps you recognise these patterns of thinking, behaving and feeling and provides valuable strategies to guide you into more helpful and healthy habits. Some methods suggested by the American Psychology Association (APA) are listed below:

Learning to recognise one’s distortions in thinking that are creating problems and then reevaluate them in light of reality. Gaining a better understanding of the behaviour and motivation of others.
Using problem-solving skills to cope with difficult situations.
Learning to develop a greater sense of confidence in one’s own abilities.

Below is an example of how your thoughts, feelings and behaviours interact when experiencing anxiety and how this influences an unhealthy view.

CBT can help you overcome these negative aspects to achieve more healthy and positive outcomes. Therapists will usually start sessions to gain more insight by asking questions about your past and current physical and emotional health. It will usually take them a few sessions to understand your current emotional condition and what course of action will best suit you. Below are a few of the usual stages you might go through when taking part in CBT:

Step 1: During the first stage, you and the therapist work together to identify the most troubling areas or problems in your life. These may include issues relating to grief, symptoms of a mental health disorder, medical conditions, stress, family situation or even sleep problems. Once the main problem is recognised, the two of them will focus on creating an achievable goal for the individual in changing these problematic thoughts or behaviours.

Step 2: During the second stage, the therapist helps you become aware of the feelings and thoughts around the problem and how this could contribute to the issue. They might be asked to share any observations of their feelings or behaviours they have experienced around the problem or situation in the past. Talking about these problems helps to identify which beliefs, thoughts and emotions contribute most to the problem.

Step 3: During this stage, you will reshape your unhelpful thoughts and feelings to more helpful emotions that are less problematic for you. The therapist usually provides you with strategies to help you practice changing these behaviours and thinking patterns. Some methods may include cognitive restructuring, relaxation techniques, exposure therapy and behavioural activation. At home, you can keep a journal, monitor your behaviour patterns, and question your assumptions; this way, it can help you be more aware of your actions and feelings.

Effectiveness/evidence of CBT

There have been various research and studies conducted that have found CBT to be a very effective treatment for various mental health conditions. A meta-analysis discovered that it was just as effective as medication in helping improve depression and that it is the most effective in helping with many types of anxiety disorders. Previous studies have found that in mental health conditions of depression and anxiety, CBT alone has been effective in overcoming 50-75% of issues within 5-15 sessions.

Over the past few years, the use of CBT as a mental health intervention has greatly increased. The Australian Psychological Society (APS) states that CBT is still used as a first-line intervention among many common disorders in 2021. They also found that in 2019 it was the most repeated psychological treatment in Australia with reportedly 77% of psychologists implementing it. This shows us an increase in usage from 2006 when it was 59.5% and 71.3% in 2016. CBT is an effective and evidence-based approach used by a wide range of work disciplines in mental health to help guide individuals to improve their quality of life and manage their own symptoms.