Important Aspects Of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

By Thomas Graham


Psychotherapy is today considered an integral part of management for a wide variety of illness that may be either physical or mental. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a form of psychotherapy that has been shown to have huge benefits for New Jersey patients when used for conditions such as depression, eating disorders and anxiety disorders among others. It involves engaging the client in a structured talk that is spread over several sessions with the aim of finding the cause and treatment of an illness.

Typically, clients are required to attend therapy sessions one every week or every fortnight. Each session usually lasts between 30 minutes and one hour. Depending on the nature of the illness, a total of 5 to 20 sessions are needed. Your therapist will help you classify your problems into three broad categories namely: thoughts, feelings and actions. The analysis of these three areas will help identify the causes of the problem and how best it can be rectified by changing inappropriate thoughts and behaviors.

The success of this therapy is determined, to a large extent, by the existence of a healthy partnership between the client and the therapist. Clients who are actively involved in making decisions regarding their illness tend to have better outcomes than those that are not. The two should strive to find common ground for most of the major issues relating the condition or illness. Treatment options should be a product of consultations between the two.

One must remember that CBT takes time to works and the results are not immediate. There is a need to work hard and to stick to the treatment plan if even no motivation to do so exists. It is not uncommon for some clients to have their symptoms worsen particularly during the beginning of therapy but the situation tend to improve with time.

This treatment may be offered to individual patients or to groups. It is, as a matter of fact an important part of family and couples therapy. When used for groups, the only requirement is that the clients should share similar problems. The advantage of offering CBT to groups is that the group members learn coping skills from each other and are likely to respond faster than individual clients.

The client should be honest and as open as possible if they are to benefit from this treatment. They need to freely share their thoughts, experiences and emotions with their therapist to make it possible for solutions to be formulated. In case one feels that sharing some information is embarrassing or is likely to result into emotional pain they should let the therapist know. The therapist is obliged to maintain client confidentiality (except in very rare circumstances).

In some cases, symptoms may occur even after successful treatment. To deal with this, one needs to continue practicing the skills that they acquired during previous CBT sessions. Re-enrolling for the therapy may be needed if the symptoms are severe. Another option is to introduce other forms of treatment so as to increase the effectiveness of CBT. Such treatments may include pharmacotherapy agents such as antidepressants and other forms of psychotherapy.

Referrals to CBT specialists may come from primary physicians, friends or relatives. In some cases it is a personal decision. Regardless of the case, one must make sure that they identified the right therapist for their case. Ensure that you can afford to pay for the treatment to avoid dropping out along the way.




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