If you’ve been looking into therapy, you’ve probably come across the term CBT. It seems to be everywhere. But what does it actually mean, and more importantly, does it actually work?
Here’s a straightforward explanation of what CBT is, who it helps and what you can expect if you decide to try it.
What CBT stands for
CBT stands for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. It’s a structured, practical form of therapy that focuses on the connection between your thoughts, feelings and behaviors. The basic idea is simple: the way you think about a situation directly affects how you feel and what you do. Change the thinking pattern and you change the outcome.
Unlike traditional talk therapy where you might spend sessions exploring your past, CBT is focused on the present. It’s goal oriented, measurable and designed to give you tools you can actually use in daily life.
What happens in a CBT session
A typical CBT session at Palo Alto Therapy isn’t just talking. Your therapist will work with you to identify specific thought patterns that are keeping you stuck. These might be things like catastrophizing, all or nothing thinking, or assuming the worst in situations.
Once you’ve identified those patterns together, you’ll practice challenging them and replacing them with more balanced, realistic ones. Between sessions you’ll often have short exercises or homework to practice what you’ve learned in real situations.
It sounds simple. But the results can be genuinely life changing.
Who does CBT help
CBT has decades of research behind it and is considered the gold standard treatment for a wide range of conditions including:
It works for children, teenagers, young adults and adults. It can be done one on one, as a family or even as a couple.
How long does CBT take
One of the things people appreciate most about CBT is that it’s not open ended. Because it’s structured and goal focused, many clients start to notice real improvement within just a few weeks. A typical course of CBT might run anywhere from 12 to 20 sessions depending on what you’re working on.
That’s very different from years of open ended therapy with no clear finish line in sight.
Why evidence based therapy matters
The word evidence based gets thrown around a lot but it matters more than you might think. It means the approach has been tested in rigorous clinical research and proven to get results. When you choose a CBT therapist you’re not just hoping the approach works. You have decades of data behind you.
At Palo Alto Therapy every one of our therapists is trained above the industry standard in CBT and other evidence based approaches. We also track your progress from session one so you always know therapy is working.
Is CBT right for you
If you’ve tried therapy before and felt like you were going in circles, or if you’ve been putting off getting help because you’re not sure it will actually make a difference, CBT might be exactly what you’ve been looking for.
It’s practical, it’s focused and it gets results.
We serve clients in person at our Palo Alto, Menlo Park and San Jose offices and via telehealth across California. If you’d like to find out whether CBT is the right approach for you, we’d love to talk.