Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is a structured form of therapy that focuses on the relationship between thoughts, feelings, and behaviours. 

Let’s say you hear a loud noise in the middle of the night. If you think, it’s a cat burglar! You will also think, I am in danger! You will feel scared and you will reach for the baseball bat laying under your bed (perhaps?). If instead, your initial thought is, I live in an old house with a lousy furnace, you may also think, this happens all the time, feel annoyed, but go back to bed. 

If you can identify your thoughts, challenge their accuracy, and replace them with more helpful ones, you can also change your feelings and behaviours. Ultimately, this should give you back some power in your life and that, is how CBT works in a nutshell.

There is homework involved in CBT, but doing work between sessions (think, practicing with your team before the big game) will help you make big gains. A typical course of CBT treatment is 8 to 20 sessions long depending on the problem area you are targeting.