C - Cognitive Behavioral Therapy #AtoZ #MentalHealthAwareness

Whenever she thought about air travel it gave her nightmares, jitters, any news of plane crashes or accidents and she would lose sleep, she would get extremely anxious even when a loved one took a flight. Would Cognitive Behavioral Therapy help her?

Cognitive behavioral therapy was invented by a psychiatrist, Aaron Beck, in the 1960s. Beck realized that the link between thoughts and feelings was very important. He invented the term automatic thoughts to describe emotion-filled thoughts that might pop up in the mind. Beck found that people weren’t always fully aware of such thoughts, but could learn to identify and report them.

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a psycho-social intervention that aims to improve mental health. CBT focuses on challenging and changing unhelpful cognitive distortions and behaviors, improving emotional regulation, and the development of personal coping strategies that target solving current problems.

It is a common type of talk therapy (psychotherapy). One has to work with a mental health counselor in a structured way, attending a limited number of sessions. CBT helps one become aware of inaccurate or negative thinking so you can view challenging situations more clearly and respond to them in a more effective way.

CBT often includes:

• ·         Learning about your mental health condition
• ·         Learning and practicing techniques such as relaxation, coping, resilience, stress management and assertiveness

CBT can be an effective tool ― either alone or in combination with other therapies ― in treating mental health disorders, such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or an eating disorder.

CBT is appropriate for people of all ages, including children, adolescents, and adults. Research also indicates that CBT can be delivered effectively online, in addition to face-to-face therapy sessions.

It is based on the concept that your thoughts, feelings, physical sensations and actions are interconnected, and that negative thoughts and feelings can trap you in a vicious cycle.

CBT is a useful tool to address emotional challenges. It can help to:

• ·         Manage symptoms of mental illness
• ·         Prevent a relapse of mental illness symptoms
• ·         Treat a mental illness when medications aren't a good option
• ·         Learn techniques for coping with stressful life situations
• ·         Identify ways to manage emotions
• ·         Resolve relationship conflicts and learn better ways to communicate
• ·         Cope with grief or loss
• ·         Overcome emotional trauma related to abuse or violence
• ·         Cope with a medical illness

Read more about CBT

http://cogbtherapy.com/cognitive-behavioral-therapy-exercises

This post is a part of April Blogging from A To Z Challenge

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