Developed by Aaron Beck, CBT helps us identify our thoughts as shaping how we feel and thus our behavior. Practicing CBT is like engaging in good brain hygiene. This is why it’s such a powerful tool for treating depression and anxiety. When we learn to replace negative, self-defeating thoughts and beliefs with healthier thoughts and beliefs, we begin to feel better and thus our behaviors begin to change in a positive way.
A simple example of how this works:
Let’s say you have some struggles at work or in your relationship and you are thinking:
“I never do anything right.”
This thought leads to a negative feeling-state such as:
Helplessness/Hopelessness
This negative feeling state results in a behavior, such as:
Staying at home more and dropping out of activities you use to enjoy.
Eventually, additional negative thoughts and beliefs will arise such as:
“I’m lazy/worthless because I just stay home and do nothing.”
This thought can lead to even more painful emotional states, such as shame or regret and this very painful feeling state leads to further entrenched behavioral responses such as:
Increased isolation and self-medication with shopping, zoning out on the computer, watching T.V., eating, drinking alcohol, or engaging in other pain numbing activities and substances.
Can you can see how negative thoughts can create a negative feedback loop affecting how you feel and how you behave? We can have many different automatic negative thoughts or “ANTs” over the course of a day. Sometimes we learn these automatic negative thoughts and beliefs from our family of origin. Other times we pick-up negative messages from society or culture, and sometimes we have ANTs as a result of challenging or even traumatic experiences. Our brain is wired toward a negativity bias for survival and so it’s very important to learn to manage our negative thoughts so that they don’t run the show. Left unchecked, self-defeating thoughts may seem normal to us and they can trigger or reinforce symptoms of depression and anxiety. The sooner you get on top of this the better!
Working collaboratively, I help to identify and raise awareness of negative or unhelpful thoughts and beliefs that are interfering with your sense of wellbeing and preventing you from achieving your goals. Over time, you learn to identify and replace these negative thoughts and beliefs with more realistic and accurate thoughts and beliefs. When you begin to practice better brain hygiene, you begin to feel better. Your positive growth will continue as long as you are putting in effort over time and are gentle with yourself while you practice new skills. When you start to feel better, you start to take positive, manageable steps toward achieving your goals. If you would like to start feeling better and learn to apply CBT principles for better brain hygiene please contact me for an Initial Consultation.
(Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is similar to CBT but incorporates concepts from eastern philosophy that promote a healthy and balanced way of thinking and being in the world.)
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