Cognitive therapy – can thoughts really change how you feel?

Cognitive therapy (CBT)  is a way of identifying typical and recurring thought patterns and establishing more productive ways of thinking.  The premise on which cognitive therapy is based is that cognition’s (or thoughts) directly affect our feelings and so are directly related to anxiety, depression and associated obsessive -compulsive behaviours.  If negative thought patterns can be changed and replaced with more positive, self-affirming thoughts, our well being can be increased, our horizons widened and we increase our belief in creating lives that are pleasurable and meaningful.

But why do we establish negative thought patterns?  We inherit many of our ways of thinking from the people who have influenced us over our lives.  That is why our parents and family are so influential in how we think, despite now being adult and probably living away from them.  It is as if a template is set very early, against which we assess and process things. If we learnt to say things like ‘That will never work.  I am a failure.  People let you down.  You can’t trust strangers’ etc, then this becomes our typical response to the world.  Even if we try to change such thoughts, often our subconscious intervenes and influences the type of people and situations we attract to confirm the negative scenario.

Next time you enter a new situation, write down your typical reactions.  Are they positive or negative?  Self-affirming or self-deprecating?  What are your reactions to difficult situations or where others have let you down?  Do you blame others saying ‘Told you so – this is typical’ or do you say things like ‘This is unfortunate, what can I learn from this to avoid attracting this again?’  See how the latter reaction is positive and empowering and the former reaction keeping you  stuck at the mercy of others.  Cognitive behaviour therapy can assist you from naturally reacting negatively to positively. Imagine how great life would be then?  What opportunities or people you could attract that could transform your life?

CBT – what happens in a session with a psychologist?

CBT is a highly valuable tool for helping people change their self-limiting language which influences  subsequent feelings and behaviour.  But how exactly does CBT work?

CBT psychologists develop a relationship of trust with their client and carefully listen to the language they use.  Self-defeating or negative language is noted, together with examples of where the individual holds unsubstantiated beliefs about the world which limit their ability to constructively move forward.  For example, imagine a person hearing of an increase in theft in their city.  How the person responds to hearing their beliefs about others and how their thoughts automatically follow their appraisal of situations is highlighted.  The individual might say ‘The world is a very unsafe place; I should avoid talking to my neightbours as bad things always happen to me!‘  This language indicates their beliefs that the world is a bad place and bad things happen to them (despite this news event being very generalised).  Their language is self-perpetuating and the use of the word ‘always’ reinforces their existing beliefs about how the world is for the individual – and how it will continue to be since they will probably interpret any contradictions to the unsafe worldview as not standard.  Their language will probably have a tendency to extend beyond this to other examples of others being untrustworthy.

Many individuals are unaware of how their language patterns develop and are kept in place by associated thought patterns and feelings.  CBT counselling specifically helps you identify and challenge typical language patterns, introduce new techniques for changing them and then expereincing  and reflecting on associated changes in feelings and wellbeing.  With a different set of responses, the individual is able to more constructively encounter information and and seek out more details to judge events, case by case, rather than consistently experiencing the world negatively and therefore attracting negative expereinces and reactions from others.

In my work with clients, I use CBT as a valuable framework to identify thought patterns and  ways in which indivdiuals use language to avoid asking the very important choices they might avoid through their behaviour.

Mindfulness and Cognitive Therapy – a favourable partnership

Mindefulness Philosophy and Cognitive Therapy, when integrated, provide a refreshing way of overcoming difficulties.  Cognitive therapy focuses on identifying thinking patterns and developing ways in which they can be constructive and positive.  When this happens, an individual’s sense of wellbeing changes, as they feel better and ‘see the glass half full rather than half empty‘.  Thus, they are more open to seeking positive solutions or, for example, in conversations or relationships, not jumping to conclusions through typical negative or intransigent thought patterns.

Mindfulness and cognitive therapy encourages clients further to become more present and self-reflective on their and other people’s behaviour, a key apsect of thinking patterns. Including Mindfulness is a more holistic approach to self understanding and mastery and has far-reaching positive effects on wellbeing and social interactions.