Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Many therapists use a combination of cognitive and behavioral therapies when working with patients. Cognitive therapy is focused on one’s thoughts and beliefs. Discussing your thoughts and beliefs, what makes you think about certain things, and how these thoughts affect you are all discussed in cognitive therapy. The therapist is focused on helping you manage thoughts that cause anxiety, depression, and other mental and emotional problems.

Behavioral therapy is often used in conjunction with cognitive therapy to help the patient find a resolution to their problems. Behavioral therapy techniques such as relaxation and breathing exercises can help to curb negative thoughts and allow you to more easily discuss difficult subjects and deal with them calmly.

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy is helpful in treating many different emotional and mental disorders. Call us to find out how we can help you.

When mental health challenges are standing in your way of a joyous life, the team at Crossroads Counseling Services in Plainfield, Ottawa, Morris, and Yorkville, IL offers cognitive behavioral therapy to help.

Guide to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Many people who suffer from issues such as anxiety, depression, eating disorders, relationship problems, or substance abuse problems find cognitive behavioral therapy or CBT very helpful. This is because CBT is effective at getting to the heart of the matter.

For many dealing with emotional and mental health disorders, one event can have a significant impact on the rest of their lives. Imagine a child whose parents divorce. They might feel that they are to blame in some way. In some very sad cases, a thoughtless parent might place the blame on the child.

In either of these instances, the child harbors a great deal of guilt. Throughout life, they might take responsibility for everything that goes wrong, always repeating, “It’s my fault,” even when they have no control. That guilt can turn into depressive thinking, like “I can never do anything right,” or questions such as, “What’s wrong with me?” This self-destructive method of thinking can easily result in chronic mental health issues and, possibly, attempts on one’s own life.

How Does CBT Help?

The example above is just one of many ways that one traumatic incident can lead to a lifetime of struggles. At Crossroads Counseling Services in Plainfield, Ottawa, Morris, and Yorkville, IL, we use CBT to help patients out of negative and self-destructive loops.

CBT is a combination of both cognitive and behavioral therapy used to put an end to it. Cognitive therapy works to help you identify your negative thoughts and beliefs. Becoming aware of them and their genesis in your life can bring a much more logical understanding that helps you address the matter. With the example above, learning that your negative thinking comes from a divorce that you played no role in can help to alleviate some of your guilt and see how that guilt has impacted your life.

Behavioral therapy is a process through which you work to change learned behaviors. In the example above, this would likely include finding ways to change your thinking when saying things like, “I can’t get anything right,” or “It’s all my fault.” You would likely work on more positive self-talk and the ability to look at the situation in a more logical manner.

Learn more about cognitive behavioral therapy and the positive impact it can have on your life by calling Crossroads Counseling Services in Plainfield, Ottawa, Morris, and Yorkville, IL at (815) 941-3882.

Info@Crossroads-helps.com

Plainfield, IL, Ottawa, IL,
Morris, IL, Yorkville, IL

(815) 941-3882