Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Mental Health

CBT is an umbrella term for a number of variations that are used to treat different disorders. These therapies are specialized to tackle specific aspects of a mental disorder, such as intrusive thoughts in the case of anxiety disorders. At URP Behavioral Health, therapists rely on methods such as cognitive and exposure therapy to help patients with conditions like generalized anxiety disorder.

Exposure works by modifying your mind’s current pathological fear structure. It does so by providing it with new information that disproves the currently-held unrealistic associations (for example, believing that an increased heart rate can lead to a heart attack). When you confront the feared stimulus, you experience less fear each time you encounter it.

This is a mood disorder with two types: manic and hypomanic. So, when you have bipolar disorder, you experience depressive and manic/hypomanic episodes. With CBT, your therapist will aim to reduce the intensity of symptoms during a depressive or manic episode.

When you’re experiencing a depressive episode, common symptoms include low mood and negative thoughts. During CBT sessions, your therapist will guide you on the best way to identify triggers that lead to such episodes. Additionally, they’ll help you build skills to manage negative thoughts and overcome them.

During a manic or hypomanic episode, you experience an increase in energy and confidence. You may also be open to new ideas and experiences. As a result, it’s possible that you’ll feel guilt or embarrassment after the episode passes.

CBT will help you change these negative perceptions to reduce the intensity and effects of future episodes. Your therapist will encourage you to track your mood, monitor your internal thought process, and examine behaviors.

There’s evidence that receiving CBT treatment for depressive disorders leads to a lower relapse rate compared to when you only undergo pharmacotherapy. When you begin cognitive behavior therapy for depression, you’ll agree on a specific problem with your psychiatrist and set specific goals.

Initially, you’ll increase awareness about the connection between your cognitions and behavior. Then, your therapist will use techniques such as guided discovery and Socratic dialogue to modify your thoughts and, consequently, your behavior.

Over time, you’ll build new skills to help manage symptoms. Then, you can apply them in different situations to reduce the risk of relapse.

If you struggle with PTSD, your therapist will use a form of CBT known as prolonged exposure therapy, which can include imagined and real-life exposure. You’ll revisit the memory of the traumatic event by visualizing what happened. At the same time, you’ll vocalize what happened during a therapy session.

After revisiting the contents of imagined exposure, you re-process it to develop a new perspective about yourself, other people, and the world. Therefore, you challenge negative perceptions and make them positive.

Schizophrenia refers to the entire spectrum of schizophrenic disorders, all of which are characterized by the occurrence of psychotic symptoms, i.e., hallucinations and delusions.

When receiving treatment for a schizophrenic disorder, your therapist will use cognitive behavioral interventions like reality testing, building coping skills, and cognitive restructuring. In addition to alleviating psychotic symptoms, CBT is also useful for reducing the anxious and depressive feelings that can accompany hallucinations or delusions.

When you learn how to test the reality of your perceptions, you can ignore auditory hallucinations and challenge delusions. Over time, your therapist will help you build problem-solving and social skills so you can be a part of a community.

In the case of OCD, your therapists will apply a form of CBT known as exposure and response prevention. It’s designed to tackle both characteristics of the disorder: obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviors. You’ll complete in vivo exposure during the therapy session with your therapist and outside the therapeutic environment.

Let’s say you have the obsessive thought of getting ill each time you touch a doorknob in public, so you make it a point to engage in ritualistic washing behavior a specific number of times. In this case, your therapist will ask you to refrain from engaging in safety behavior the next time you’re outside and touch a doorknob.

This mental illness is characterized by a pervasive fear of experiencing a panic attack. It causes you to make significant changes to your lifestyle as a way to avoid encountering another panic attack.

To treat this disorder, a licensed mental health professional will use a form of CBT known as interoceptive exposure, during which you deliberately induce specific physical sensations that you consider signs of an incoming panic attack.

The purpose of this technique is to disprove the assumption that all uncomfortable sensations like sweating and an increased heart rate are indicative of a panic attack.

There’s research to prove that people who undergo CBT show reductions in the rate of self-harm and suicidal thoughts. Through cognitive therapy, you pinpoint underlying conflicts that cause you to engage in self-harming behavior.

Through discussions with your therapist, you’ll identify which factors or triggers increase your desire to self-harm. Then, you can start working on techniques to manage those difficult thoughts without resorting to self-harm.

At URP Behavioral Health, therapists use a specialized variation of CBT, called dialectical behavioral therapy, to treat borderline personality disorder. The therapy is based on CBT but is specifically designed for people who experience intense emotions – a common aspect of BPD.

During CBT sessions, your therapist will work on cognitive restructuring, which involves spotting negative reactive thoughts and altering them. You’ll also build skills to improve functionality in social situations and reduce unhelpful thoughts.

This is a category of disorders that lead to problems with your sense of self, perception, and identity. A majority of dissociative disorders occur as a result of prolonged exposure to complex trauma. Therefore, therapists use techniques that help you re-process the repressed trauma.

In this case, CBT is also added to treatment plans, but mainly to alleviate depressive and anxious feelings that occur as a result of symptoms. Similarly, your therapist may use CBT to help build problem-solving skills in situations when you’re affected by distressing symptoms.