CBT

What is CBT

CBT stands for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.  This is a form of therapy that involves examining how your thoughts, feelings and behaviors are interrelated.  Specifically, CBT has the underlying belief that our thoughts determine our feelings and our behavior.  When you participate in CBT you will learn techniques to manage difficult feelings, thoughts and behaviors such as relaxation skills.  You may also look at unhelpful thought patterns.   

How does CBT work?

The main focus of CBT is looking at how you think about situations and learning to recognize which thoughts are helpful and which thoughts are not helpful.  As you figure which thoughts are unhelpful, you learn ways to deal with the unhelpful thoughts. One of the underlying beliefs of CBT is that once you can recognize unhelpful thoughts, you can change the way you think about what's happening which will in turn change how you feel and act (behave).  When doing CBT, you will sometimes have homework such as keeping track of times when you get upset during the week or practicing skills such as relaxation.  

Learn more about CBT

Below you will find several links to help you learn more about CBT.  

• This links to a webpage that gives a general overview of CBT.

• A video explaining CBT in simple terms that includes an example.

• A cartoon video that describes CBT in simple terms.  Note:  General Practitioner (GP) is a family doctor. 

• A cartoon video that reviews common automatic (unhelpful) thoughts and how to deal with those automatic thoughts.  This is a common technique used in CBT.