Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a highly effective, evidence-based treatment (EBT) and a form of psychotherapy. It seeks to identify and change self-destructive or unhealthy thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, with a focus on how they’re interconnected—learned and shaped by the environment—so altering one can alleviate difficulties in the others. CBT uses  Socratic questioning as hypotheticals to test negative thinking in “behavioral experiments” and gather evidence to assess status quo vs. changing old patterns. Successful outcomes give us more control over our lives. We learn skills, consistent with our values, to cope with major life events, correct faulty thinking patterns, and deal effectively in socializing or relationships. The therapy can treat individuals, parents, children, couples, and families, replacing ways of living that do not work well with those that do. CBT’s strongest evidence is treating anxiety disorders, somatoform disorders (a psychosomatic disorder causing a person to experience bodily symptoms in response to psychological distress), bulimia, and anger control problems. It also treats substance use disorder (SUD), schizophrenia, Cerebral Cortex: See Grey Matter