When you’re trying to help yourself, it can be a daunting task sometimes. You can make your own  lifestyle changes to improve yourself, but there are some changes that you may need help with professionally.

A therapist can assist you with that. One method they may use is cognitive psychotherapy. Let’s explain what it is.

What is Cognitive Psychotherapy?

Cognitive psychotherapy is known better as cognitive-behavioral therapy, or CBT. CBT is used widely by many therapists, and for a good reason.

CBT examines your current thoughts and behaviors. It believes that these two are linked, and by changing your thought process, you can change your problematic behaviors.

You can look at yourself in the present moment instead of dwelling on the past. While it is important to explore one’s past, being in the present allows you to change your behaviors for the future.

How it Begins

When you see a therapist, they will assess you first. You tell your therapist your thoughts, as well as your feelings and beliefs. Doing this can help your therapist learn more about you and understand your thought process.

The assessment is standard for most forms of therapy. When you go to any therapist, there’s a getting to know each other process, and this can allow you to take the big leap into the actual treatment.

However, you may wonder what the first step for treatment is. It’s actually homework!

Homework

You may not like the idea of doing homework, but it’s important when it comes to therapy. You may have to look something up, keep a journal, or do something else. Homework tends to involve simple assignments that are effective in treating you and helping the therapist understand you better.

You may be asked to draw your feelings, or keep track of your behaviors you don’t like. Write down when it happened and what you were thinking at the time. Then, you can take the results to your therapist and then you can discuss.

In addition, homework helps you achieve self-awareness, which is a building block of therapy.

Achieving Self-Awareness

CBT helps you to achieve a feeling of self-awareness by letting you look at your thoughts critically and allowing you to dispose of any thoughts that are unhelpful and make your situations worse. Not all our thoughts are going to be rational, but some are dangerous to your well-being.

By being more aware of your thoughts, you can treat many of your problems. But what problems can you treat?

CBT Can Treat a Lot

And we mean a lot! It’s not magic, but many of our life’s problems are fixable through changing our thought process.

Depression and anxiety are two examples. While both are difficult to overcome, changing your thought process may reduce episodes and their severity.

The same applies to substance abuse. It’s hard to kick, but CBT may help you avoid thoughts that can trigger a craving, making it easier to get off, or stay off, a substance. In the event you relapse, CBT may help you avoid any self-defeating thoughts that make it more challenging for you to get back on track.

Speaking of which, these thoughts make it difficult to achieve many of our goals. If there’s a hiccup, we tend to think there’s no point in continuing. From eating too much when you’re on a diet to having insomnia when you’re trying to fix your sleep schedule, life happens. You shouldn’t quit just because of that.

CBT can help in your personal life, too. Changing your thought process may help you in your marriage, or reduce your self-esteem issues. Sometimes, your problematic behaviors may be not thinking before you speak, or being trapped in negative feedback loops. All of these can make it more likely that you have fights with your spouse and other issues.

CBT is great for people of all ages as well. The younger crowd can benefit from it, along with the older crowd. Anyone in-between? They’re going to love CBT and what it can do for them. There are no side effects or medications to take. Anyone can do it. With that said, some people may benefit better depending on their therapist.

Finding a Therapist

With all that said, finding a therapist who specializes in CBT can seem daunting. Most do, but many have their own approach to it, and your results may vary depending on that.

Trying to find a therapist in your preferred age and sex range may be one way you can achieve this. Another is to look locally and see what therapists are available.

Making sure a therapist can help your particular issue is a good move as well. Some therapists are more experienced in treating depression, while others are for relationship issues. There are therapists who can treat almost any issue as well, which may be useful if you have a laundry list you need to take care of.

Another way is online therapy.

Online therapy lets you get help on your own schedule. You can talk to a therapist anywhere, any time, and there are many different avenues you can take. From talking to a therapist through video to texting them, it’s easier than ever.

Not to mention, it may be cheaper as well due to the therapist not being in the office. There’s a more straightforward payment plan, which may be able to assist you as well if you find paying for a therapist in-person to be confusing.

Online therapy is also great for people who can’t leave their home due to depression or other issues that can make it a challenge to talk to someone in-person.

Of course, where do you begin with online therapy? This question alone can feel like a challenge. There are so many websites? Which ones are reputable and have licensed therapists who are there when you need them?

Better Help can assist you in finding the right therapist.  For more information on them, simply click the link below:

https://www.betterhelp.com/advice/psychologists/what-is-continuity-psychology/

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