Cognitive Behavior Therapy

Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) is essentially designed to train clients to be their own therapists. This evidence-based approach is a skills and strategies focused therapy based on the principles that altering the way we interpret (or think) about something or the way we behave can improve our functioning and emotional state.

This type of therapy is highly effective for treating:

• Anxiety (generalized, social anxiety, separation anxiety)

• Panic

• Phobias

• Depression

• Perfectionism

• People pleasing

• Emotional disturbances

Traditional CBT involves learning the skills to change the way you think about distressing situations, through identifying the distortions in thinking, and learning to either challenge and replace their thoughts with more objective, balanced thoughts. Identifying and learning to change problematic, core irrational beliefs is often a part of this process. I use socratic questioning to help clients gain insight into the effect of behavior, teach problem-solving strategies, and cognitive skills to “untwist” problematic thinking.

New wave CBT treatments such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) are also highly effective and fit better for some clients who prefer to not regard their thoughts as problematic, but to work towards living with the thoughts in ways that don’t allow the thoughts to affect their behavior. By accepting the thoughts in a more neutral way, as part of the human experience, we are enabled to engage in values-based behaviors with the thoughts still present. I incorporate ACT in my work with clients who prefer this way of thinking about their psychological condition.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is another type of CBT that is more highly structured and skills focused. DBT combines mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation skills and interpersonal effectiveness skills to reduce intense emotional disturbances. I incorporate DBT skills throughout my work with clients as needed.