Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, is a type of therapy developed by Dr. Aaron Beck that focuses on the interactions between your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. The goal of CBT is to help you recognize your irrational or negative thought patterns and change them. As your thoughts change, your emotions and behaviors will change too. CBT consists of a broad range of psychological interventions and is active, directive, and collaborative. This type of therapy is typically focused on solutions in the present more than it is on the past origins of your problems.

CBT has shown to be effective in treating depression, trauma, problematic eating, anxiety, substance abuse, and self-esteem problems, among other mental health concerns. Additionally, CBT is helpful even if you are not suffering from specific mental health concerns, as it can help you develop healthy habits and thought patterns. CBT uses several types of interventions, including cognitive, behavioral, and mindfulness based techniques.

Cognitive interventions in CBT focus on the role of your thoughts, beliefs, assumptions, and interpretations and how they contribute to and maintain negative emotions and ineffective behaviors. Thus, cognitive interventions work to help you “check the facts” regarding the accuracy or effectiveness of your beliefs about yourself, others, and the world.

Behavioral interventions in CBT focus on changing ineffective behaviors, using tools ranging from exposure tasks, in which you learn to face feared people, objects, or situations to help with anxiety; to problem-solving and communication skills training to help with interpersonal difficulties; to behavioral activation strategies, which target the tendency to isolate socially and to withdraw from previously enjoyed activities to help with depression.

Mindfulness- and acceptance-based interventions in CBT focus on the ways you avoid or suppress unpleasant thoughts, feelings, and experiences, for instance, by compartmentalizing, distracting, or pushing back against reality as it currently is. These interventions aim to help improve both your awareness of your own internal experiences, as well as a tolerance for and openness to your experiences without judgment or avoidance, regardless of how unpleasant those experiences may be.