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Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is one of the most effective forms of psychotherapy (talk therapy) and is widely used in the treatment of mental health disorders, substance use disorders, and family and marital problems.
Cognitive behavioral therapy focuses on how cognitions (or thoughts), emotions, and behaviors relate to each other and how changing the way an individual evaluates a situation can change their reaction. CBT is designed to alter pervasive negative thoughts and feelings.
About Clearview Treatment Programs
Ages we treat
Adults (ages 18+)
Levels of care
Residential, partial hospitalization programs (PHP), intensive outpatient programs (IOP)
Payment options
Commercial insurance (in-network and out-of-network), self pay
Medicare/Medicaid
Not accepted
About CBT
Does Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Work?
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is unique because it’s an active therapy, meaning it requires an intense level of participation from both the client and their therapist to help the client learn and practice healthy coping skills and emotional responses. Some cognitive behavioral treatment plans may even require homework outside of therapy sessions.
Through cognitive therapy, our clients learn to recognize when involuntary negative thoughts (i.e., automatic thoughts) enter their minds and the triggers that bring them on. By doing this, individuals can learn to better prepare for when they get triggered and how to better handle reactions and emotions. Empathy is another important component of cognitive behavioral therapy. For example, a client may feel that their perspective is misunderstood by friends, family, and loved ones. Through discussion and examination of the client’s point of view, our clinician empathizes and connects with them, helping them to understand that their thoughts and feelings resulting from life events are valid.
Once a strong foundation is established, our cognitive behavioral therapist helps the client mentally and emotionally organize the life events that have negatively impacted their mental health. By slowly examining each client’s unique experiences and showing them the relationship between their mental health and their harmful belief system, our CBT therapists help clients start the healing process.
The Three Basic Principles of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
According to Dr. Aaron Beck, the three basic principles of cognitive behavioral therapy include:
Core beliefs are firmly held beliefs that someone believes about themself, about others, and about the world. They learned these beliefs early in life and hold them as absolute. One example is an individual believing “I’m unlovable.”
Dysfunctional assumptions are rigid, unrealistic rules for living adopted by individuals. One example is the idea that “it’s better not to try than to risk failing.”
Negative automatic thoughts are thoughts that are automatically activated in challenging situations. One example of a negative automatic thought is someone thinking “My friend didn’t call me today; she’s mad at me,” without a rational basis for the thought.
With over 20 years of proven experience, Clearview can help you or a loved one on the path to recovery and well-being.
Therapies That Utilize Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
There are various types of therapy that incorporate cognitive behavioral therapy, including:
✓ Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) helps individuals improve their emotional health by addressing their destructive thoughts and behaviors while incorporating treatment strategies like emotional regulation and mindfulness.
✓ Multimodal Therapy
This therapy suggests that mental health conditions should be treated by addressing seven different but interconnected modalities: behavior, affect, sensation, imagery, cognition/thoughts, interpersonal factors, and biological considerations.
✓ Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT)
Rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT) helps individuals identify their self-defeating thoughts, challenge those thoughts, and replace them with more adaptive beliefs.
✓ Exposure Response and Prevention Therapy (ExRP)
This type of exposure therapy is a specific modality of CBT that targets anxiety disorders, including obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). ExRP helps individuals with anxiety disorders address their intrusive, compulsive, obsessive, and ruminating thoughts.
The Evidence Behind CBT
Several studies show that cognitive behavioral therapy is a popular alternative to medication when it comes to treating mental health conditions. A National Institutes of Health (NIH) study that examined the efficacy of cognitive behavioral treatment across groups of patients suffering from various mental health conditions found that more significant improvement was seen in the groups that underwent cognitive behavioral therapy than in those that didn’t.
Studies also show that to treat depression, cognitive behavioral treatment can be as effective as prescription antidepressants. Unlike medication, which simply aims to eliminate the symptoms of mental health conditions, cognitive behavioral therapy focuses on the whole person by addressing the individual’s underlying core beliefs, dysfunctional assumptions, and negative automatic thoughts. Helping individuals identify and change their destructive thoughts and behaviors sets cognitive behavioral therapy apart from other types of talk therapy like acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT).
CBT at Clearview
How We Utilize Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
At Clearview, we utilize many specific types of talk therapy that fall under the category of cognitive behavioral therapy, depending on each client’s needs. In every case, CBT focuses on helping clients deal with their underlying thoughts that contribute to their mental illness and addiction, if applicable.
The CBT techniques we use focus on identifying and modifying distorted thinking, destructive behaviors, and negative emotional responses. Dialectical behavior therapy, a type of cognitive behavioral therapy, addresses how individuals think and behave. The CBT techniques utilized in dialectical behavior therapy include mindfulness, emotion regulation, and other techniques.
Mental Health Conditions We Treat Using CBT
At Clearview, we incorporate cognitive behavioral therapy in almost all our individualized treatment programs based on each client’s specific needs. Some of the mental health conditions that we treat using cognitive behavior therapy include anxiety disorders, borderline personality disorder, dual diagnosis, mood disorders (e.g., bipolar disorder and depression), substance abuse and addiction, and trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).