What is CBT

CBT works by helping the client identify, challenge and modify the belief systems that lead to emotional distress and problematic behaviours. When irrational beliefs are accepted as facts, they can cause excessive emotional distress (e.g. worry, fear, sadness, anger). To prevent this distress, people often develop dysfunctional coping skills (behaviours) such as avoiding situations, which might help reduce the intensity of their emotions in the short run, but actually increase their emotional distress in the long run and keeps these symptoms coming back. These negative patterns of thinking and behaving can actually reinforce each other over time, leading to a vicious cycle of distorted thoughts, emotional distress, and over protective behaviours and avoidance.

What we think affects how we act and feel.
What we feel affects how we think and do.
What we do affects how we think and feel.

Working with your therapist, you will:

• Identify the thoughts and behaviours that reinforce this cycle
• Test the accuracy of your beliefs and challenge the helpfulness of your behaviours
• Develop skills, strategies and techniques to help you achieve your desired outcome

While addressing maladaptive thinking patterns is important, what is even more important is to identify problematic coping strategies that tend to make the condition worse or can even cause the condition in the first place.

This means we will work to reduce the over-reliance on avoidance and safety behaviours that prevent one from learning how to tolerate their distress briefly and be able to let go of the fear or other negative thoughts and emotions.