Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (or CBT) is an effective treatment for a wide range of psychological and emotional problems. The underlying theory of CBT is that our emotions are affected by our cognitions – put another way, “We feel what we think”. As a Psychiatrist and Therapist in Edinburgh I use CBT techniques extensively in the treatment of common problems such as depression, anxiety, and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).

CBT views emotional problems as the result of unhealthy and irrational thinking. It employs terms such as Negative Automatic Thoughts and Thinking Errors to describe the different ways in which unhealthy thinking can cause emotional problems. Having identified these unhealthy thinking habits, CBT also provides us with the tools to develop alternative, healthier ways of thinking about ourselves and the world around us. By thinking in a more balanced way we will feel better emotionally. Please see my articles on Negative Automatic Thoughts and Thinking Errors for a more detailed explanation of the above methods.

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I’ve used it quite a bit, and I’ve found some of it quite helpful. However, I was wondering if there were any downsides to it. Does anyone here know?

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, or CBT, is a an effective psychotherapy for a wide range of emotional problems. The theory underlying CBT is that our thoughts directly affect the way we feel – if we think in depressed ways then we will feel depressed. As such, a primary aim for a CBT therapist is to help a client recognise when they’re thinking in unhelpful ways. This article is a brief overview of one method of doing exactly this. I’ll use the example of someone suffering from social anxiety, a common problem amongst people I work with as a Psychiatrist and therapist in Edinburgh.

The first step for the client is to start “recording their thoughts” when they feel  anxious – that is, writing down (in brief sentences) what’s going through their head. This may sound a little strange at first, but it really is an essential part of the CBT method. Ideally the client should stop and write down what they’re thinking at the moment they’re thinking it, but writing it down at the end of the day is also acceptable. They should write down everything they were thinking of – this will usually produce quite a list of thoughts and statements and beliefs. In addition, the client should note both how they felt (physically and emotionally) and the situation in which these feelings occurred.

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Please note that this is a “follow-on” article. It is best read after my articles “Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Negative Core Beliefs (NCBs) – Causes” and “Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Negative Core Beliefs (NCBs) – Identification”.

What can be done about Negative Core Beliefs? There are several options open to a CBT Therapist, but in my experience as a Psychiatrist and Therapist in Edinburgh I find that the following method is particularly effective.

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Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is an effective psychotherapy for a wide range of emotional and psychological problems. The basic tenet of CBT is that our emotions are affected by our cognitions. To put it another way – the way we think affects the way we feel.

A CBT therapist aims to help people suffering from emotional problems by helping them to identify the ways in which their thinking may be causing their problem. A first step in CBT is therefore the identification of “Negative Automatic Thoughts” (or “NATs” for short) – these are the thoughts that accompany unpleasant or unhelpful emotions such as depression or anxiety.

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You wouldn’t understand, but if I see a therapist I’d get fired from my job. And no, I work for a government agency so it wouldn’t be protected or anything. I have social anxiety disorder and major depression and I’ve been thinking about CBT for a long time.

Exposure therapy as treatment for Social Phobia is exactly what it sounds like, exposing your mind and body to that which you fear. By gradually exposing and training your mind that the feared event is not as horrible as you think it is, you are working to desensitize yourself to the stimulus. 

A). During exposure therapy, you expose yourself to small doses of the feared event and increase the duration of exposure over time. If you are afraid of talking in groups, start by imagining yourself in front of groups, then speak in front of a couple of family members or close friends, then a couple of acquaintances and build up to a room full of strangers. 

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I’ve studied a bit of both and it seems there is a relationship between the two and I’m wondering if there is? Are there books out there that talk about this?

Have you ever felt really depressed and stopped to think about why, and then realized that you experience these feelings on a regular basis? Depression is a pretty common affliction for people today, and it varies to different extremes. Some people might find that they become very depressed in very specific circumstances; that this feeling inevitably follows after certain events occur in your life. Many psychiatrists believe that the depression phase of the cycle can be avoided through various behavioural modification techniques, one of which is cognitive behavioural therapy. We will clarify and define this technique in this article.

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The basic tenet of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, or CBT, is that what you think affects the way you feel. That is to say, if you think depressive thoughts then you will feel depressed. Conversely, if you manage to stop yourself thinking these thoughts, then your depression will lift.

As a psychiatrist who uses CBT techniques, my first step is to look for unhelpful patterns of thinking with my clients. Depressed people often think in particular ways that are very different from non-depressed people. These ways of thinking are called – in CBT language – “thinking errors”. Thinking errors help to cause and then maintain depression.

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