What is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy {CBT} in Five Towns, Long Island, New York?
Cognitive behavioral therapy helps change the way your mind thinks, and helps you find hope and possibility.
CBT is one of the most commonly used forms of behavioral therapy and is one of the longest-standing evidence-based methods for focusing on changing one’s thoughts and behaviors. The theory behind it is, that by working to change your thought patterns, you can influence different thoughts, outcomes, and behaviors.
It is a problem-specific, goal-oriented “talk therapy” that relies on the client’s active involvement in order to be successful. While it is a collaborative approach, requiring active participation from both the therapist and client, the expectation is that the client will eventually gain enough tools to “become their own therapist”.
There is a very strong focus on tackling day-to-day challenges, thoughts, and behaviors (as opposed to resolving past issues). Because it is a very structured and focused approach, it tends to be time-limited, and will have very clear expectations.
Because CBT relies heavily on the acquisition of learning tools, a typical session using CBT alone might involve some psycho-educational lessons that include:
Role-playing activities
Learning different ways to calm the mind and body
Gradually increasing exposure to things that cause fear
Learning how to write in a CBT style journal
If you can learn certain thought patterns and negative mindsets, you can most definitely also learn to change those patterns and mindsets.
Sort of like if someone was born with an undiagnosed astigmatism in their eyes, and lived their whole life looking at the world with a warped perception, then all of a sudden they go to the eye doctor and get a pair of glasses with just the right prescription, they will finally be able to see things clearly.
Just like our eyes can see things in a distorted way and lens prescriptions might need adjustments, our brains sometimes need adjustments too. If we are used to having a negative mindset, jumping to conclusions, seeing minor situations as catastrophic and think in black and white patterns, CBT skills can help us shift our focus and repair cognitive distortions.
Some CBT Lingo to Get Your Acquainted
Common Cognitive Distortions
The tools and techniques found in CBT are intended to address or reverse the following common cognitive distortions;
Black and White Thinking is when we look at everything as all-or-nothing, with no room for complexity or nuance, and then become overly critical of ourselves and others.
Filtering is when we become trapped in a specific headspace and begin to ignore other perspectives.
Overgeneralization is taking one particular incident or point in time and using it as the only evidence for a broad conclusion.
Jumping to Conclusions also involves faulty reasoning, but it’s more of a tendency to be sure of something without any evidence at all.
Catastrophizing makes us expect that the worst will happen or has happened, based on something that is nowhere near as catastrophic as you think it is.
Personalization is when we believe that everything is about us and that what we do impacts on external events or other people, no matter how irrational that may be.
Control Fallacies are when we feel that we are responsible for things beyond our control or blame others for our own issues.
Fallacy of Fairness is when “fair” is taken to extremes. Life is not always fair. The sooner we learn this, the less resentful and unhappy we will be.
Blaming others when things don’t go our way, or blaming others for making us feel or act a certain way is a cognitive distortion. We are responsible for the way we feel and act.
“Should’s” are implicit or explicit rules we have about how we and others should behave. When people break our rules, we are upset. When we break our own rules, we feel guilty. Stop “should”ing yourself!
Emotional Reasoning is when we think that if we feel a certain way, it must be true.
Fallacy of Change is when we expect others to change when we want them to. When we think that our happiness depends on other people, then their unwillingness or inability to change, keeps us from being happy.
Global Labeling is when we generalize one or two instances or qualities into a global judgment.
Always Being Right can be incredibly annoying to others and damaging to our own personal growth. When we are open to being wrong, we are open to learning.
Heaven’s Reward Fallacy is when we believe that self-sacrifice or self-denial are G-d like qualities that will be rewarded. When we view G-d as being overly exacting in that way, it can result in anger or bitterness when we don't get what we want.
ADVANTAGES:
A very structured approach to treatment
Helps to set goals
Challenges distorted thinking patterns
Will help you make shifts right away
Identifies beliefs that are coming in the way of you feeling calm, and can challenge those in sessions.
Some things to hold in mind:
Will not be effective (on its own) in addressing larger or deeper rooted, latent issues. May not effectively deal with developmental or acute trauma
When clients are “doing” all the right things, but don’t feel relief with this modality its likely because the CBT model supports “brain-based” distortions. When psychological distress is embedded in one’s body (on a cellular level), meaning, not in your mind, a more somatic or EMDR approach is needed as well. Trauma history is a common cause of this limitation.
If you’ve been feeling like your’e reading for a change in perspective, a shift in focus and a more refreshed outlook on life, CBT can help. CBT is also wonderful for treating anxiety, OCD, mood disorders and trauma related symptoms. Cognitive therapy has helped many clients get on track and begin making strides in feeling relief from intense moods, feeling disconnected from themselves and identifying areas of their life that have been causing stress.
CBT techniques can help you if you are looking for emotional relief. At Integrative Psychotherapy we can help.
Our staff is here via in-person therapy and via video virtual sessions to help you dissolve your anxieties, worries fears and negativity.
Reach out today for your free consult and to begin setting a treatment plan to help you begin feeling better today.
A note about our fees: our session fee for individual therapy is $250-350, and we provide the paperwork for your insurance company for out of network reimbursement if you have out of network benefits.