Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) has been an effective form of treatment for me.
I have used many of the techniques that CBT teaches for a number of years within my daily thought processes.
These techniques can provide relief in identifying, observing, and changing your thoughts, which cause you the most anxiety.
CBT has helped me understand in greater detail the thoughts, emotions, and behaviors that keep me trapped in a cycle of anxiety, worry, and fear.
Because of this newfound awareness, I have been able to manage my anxiety more efficiently and for more sustainable periods.
Cognitive-behavioral therapy has been around for many years, with roots going back to the early twentieth century. CBT is a form of psychotherapy in which a patient talks to a therapist or mental health counselor in a structured way for several sessions. CBT breaks down negative and inaccurate thinking patterns so you can view situations more clearly and deal with them more effectively.
Cognitive-behavioral therapy has proven to be effective for a broad range of problems, including anxiety disorders, alcohol and drug use issues, depression, relationship issues, eating disorders, and serious mental illnesses. Numerous studies suggest that CBT leads to a notable improvement in both functioning and quality of life. It is considered to be one of the most successful methods of treatment. Over the years, CBT has made advances in both research and clinical practice. Therefore, CBT has a good amount of scientific evidence that shows it produces changes in patients.
But what are some of the CBT techniques that help produce these changes?
MY EXPERIENCE WITH CBT
I have been in and out of therapy since I was nine years old.
And my experiences dealing with different therapists, counselors, and psychologists have varied from person to person. They’ve also varied based on the person I was when I was going to the sessions. In my younger adolescent and teen years, I wasn’t as willing to put in the work to improve myself. I was lazy, young, and naive. And that’s okay! We all go through different phases of our mental health, some better than others. The key is to come back to the root problems and change them eventually, or at least attempt to change them.
Reflecting on my youth, I wasn’t ready to make the changes that were essential to my personal growth.
So my anxiety, bouts of depression, and emotional triggers continued.
But then I hit my thirties.
There came a time in my life when I eventually hit rock bottom.
I was going through the most challenging stretch of my life, depressed, and had dark thoughts daily. It was during this time I began changing. And part of that change was going back into therapy.
My therapist, one of my favorite people, helps me in many areas of my mental health.
One of the cornerstones of what she has taught me is rooted in CBT.
Since going to her, I have experimented with and implemented many CBT-derived techniques into my daily routine.
The results?
When I practice what I preach, I do much better and have lower anxiety and stress levels. My depression has all but gone away, and my dark thoughts are now few and far between.
CBT has been a tremendous lift to my mental health.
But are any risks?
RISKS OF CBT
CBT, in general, is not considered to be a risky form of treatment. But like any mental health treatment, there are always things to consider and keep in mind. The number one thing is that CBT is different from person to person, depending on their own mental health needs. At times, some people may find it too uncomfortable to confront their anxieties and their problems. Some forms of CBT like the below-mentioned exposure therapy can increase worry and anxiety as you are working your way through the therapy. And ultimately, these techniques don’t work “overnight”; they take time and patience to implement. CBT is more of a “mental health lifestyle change” than a six-month therapy course.
10 CBT TECHNIQUES FOR MANAGING ANXIETY
1. ACTIVITY SCHEDULING
Many times we tend to put off important decisions out of fear. Whatever it is we have to do, say, or encounter, we hesitate because of the anxiety it causes us. Examples of this could be asking your manager for a raise; having a difficult conversation with your significant other; going to the doctors for a checkup, or facing a fear of flying.
What activity scheduling does is help us confront those fears head-on by scheduling whatever it is we are putting off out of fear.
By doing this, we take away a certain amount of anxiety and face our fear directly. Something as seemingly insignificant as putting it on a calendar can help tame the worry because you will be more likely to follow through and hold yourself accountable.
2. STRESS REDUCTION AND RELAXATION TECHNIQUES
Much of what CBT is based upon is reframing and adjusting negative thought patterns. But trying to “outthink” anxiety isn’t always enough; you need a strong foundation in place to achieve this goal properly. If you’re not getting adequate sleep, eating healthier, staying away from mood altering substances, and getting proper exercise, it will be more difficult to break the negative thought loops.
Stress reduction and relaxation techniques can help us calm our bodies and our minds and add a level of foundation to what I just mentioned.
What do I mean by “Stress reduction techniques?”
- Meditation
- Breathing techniques
- Getting out in nature
- Relaxing with your pet
- Listening to music
3. ROLE-PLAYING
I’m sure some of you will laugh when you think of “role-playing” for a few different reasons. But role-playing can play a substantial role in shaping better habits and learning how to respond instead of reacting in challenging or volatile situations.
Role-playing can also help in other areas, such as; becoming more assertive, practicing and improving social skills, and acquiring more confidence in certain situations.
Let’s look at a few examples:
ASKING YOUR MANAGER FOR A RAISE:
Have someone close to you play your manager, and go over every likely potential response they may give to you. And then try responding precisely the way you would want during the actual negotiation.
Do this enough times, and you’ll begin to feel more confident and less anxious.
4. SELF-MONITORING
Self-monitoring, also known as diary work, involves tracking specific behaviors, symptoms, or experiences and sharing them with your counselor or therapist. You can also do this on your terms, but it works much better while seeing a therapist since they can help provide you feedback on the best possible treatments.
I wrote an entire blog post on tracking your moods, which is one aspect of self-monitoring. I mention in that article the following:
“By keeping track of my pain, my moods, and my emotional triggers, I could then measure the effects that they had on my everyday life. Quite literally, I could see how these moods we’re controlling my life. You can tell which people, places, and situations cause you the most emotional uneasiness. This is a valuable discovery since many of us unconsciously walk through our lives, never taking the time to think about how we are thinking. We go on auto-pilot. This can be dangerous when our thoughts are mostly negative because they then create negative emotions that create negative actions that create a negative state of being.”
5. IDENTIFYING UNHEALTHY CORE BELIEFS
Many times when we experience anxiety, we are the victims of an unhealthy core belief about ourselves and our lives. Core beliefs often stem from childhood and come from challenging experiences that change the way we view ourselves. One key area of CBT is, over time, being able to identify these core beliefs that are holding you back.
For me, one of the core beliefs I’ve had since I was younger was that I wasn’t good enough. I lacked confidence for a long time because of that belief. Where did I acquire that belief? Childhood, when I was moving around to different schools and being bullied and mocked. I never realized how much of an impact it had on my subconscious mind. Over time, I was able to identify that as one of my unhealthy core beliefs and begin to work on changing it.
You can do the same.
6. KEEPING THOUGHT RECORDS
Thought Records are used to challenge negative our fear-based thinking. Anxiety can produce a heavy dose of negative thoughts that seem to repeat over and over. These negative thoughts have a direct effect on our moods; they tend to reaffirm some negative beliefs, propel a fear, or stir up more anxiety.
A thought record starts with writing down a thought or situation that triggers us. The first thing you do is write the thought or situation down on a piece of paper. Then, you run it through a thought record, a series of questions geared towards deconstructing the thought and getting to the root by challenging the thought with logic. You start by rating how strong the emotion is associated with the thought feels and then answer questions that either prove or disprove the thought’s core belief. Then, you rate the emotion attached to the thought to see if there has been any mood improvement.
7. SETTING GOALS
Goal setting can be a valuable tool for any area of life, but especially for recovery from mental illness and making changes that improve your health. Goal setting can help you stay on track by giving you both short-term and long-term goals to pursue.
During CBT, your therapist can assist you in developing the skills necessary for goal setting. Some of these skills include identifying your goals, distinguishing between short and long-term goals, and focusing on the process of achieving those goals. Another goal setting that my therapist has gone over with me is SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, time-based) goals. SMART goals can be extremely beneficial in goal setting and forming healthier habits to achieve those goals.
8. RESHAPING NEGATIVE THOUGHT PATTERNS
Reframing or reshaping negative thought patterns is one of the cornerstones of CBT. The basis of this technique is to identify those automatic negative thought patterns and then reframe them into something more realistic and balanced. Often we get caught up in negative thought loops such as thinking of the worst-case scenario, over-generalizations and placing too much importance on smaller details.
Examples of reframing negative thought patterns:
Reframe “I always seem to fail!” to “I gave it my best shot, and things won’t always go my way.”
Reframe “I just KNOW they heard me when I stuttered” to “I don’t know who heard me, but even if they did, it’s not that big of a deal!”
Get the idea?
9. EXPOSURE THERAPY
Exposure therapy is the idea of exposing someone to whatever phobia or fear they have. Since those external stimuli vary significantly for every person, talking this out with a therapist is the wisest choice. But the general principle is that by exposing (in small increments) people to their fears and phobias, you are rewiring the brain (specifically the amygdala) to not react in such a fearful way. Eventually, exposure therapy can make you less vulnerable and more confident in facing those fears and phobias.
10. IDENTIFYING AUTOMATIC THOUGHTS
Hot thoughts or Automatic thoughts are those thoughts, upsetting ideas, and mental images that tend to come up often and trigger us. In turn, these hot thoughts create and add to anxiety. These “hot thoughts” often become such a part of our everyday thinking process that we hardly even notice them. Therefore, we begin to run on a subconscious level, and anxiety thrives because of it. By keeping an eye out and identifying (write them down, be mindful of them), you can spot the automatic thought, idea, or image and redirect the thought so it doesn’t gain control of your mood.
IN REVIEW
CBT techniques can help you to identify and reframe negative thought patterns. It would be best if you spoke to a health care professional before implementing any technique, as they can guide you through the process of what may be useful and what may not be. It’s important to remember that everyone is different, so specific CBT techniques that work for one person may not work for you, and vise versa. Patience is also crucial – changing the way you think will not happen overnight. Be steady and consistent, and understand you will have your “rough” patches. In the end, if you apply the proper CBT techniques, you can help to quiet your anxiety.
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