Eva Spencer - Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: CBT Techniques Made Simple for Overcoming Anxiety, Depression, and Fear. Rewire Your Brain From Intrusive Thoughts, Emotional Intelligence, and More!

Copyright 2022 by Eva Spencer

All rights reserved.

It is not legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or in printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited and any storage of this document is not allowed unless with written permission from the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

E veryone struggles with some form of anxiety or panic at least once in their life. There isn't a clear way to handle these struggles and humankind wasn't born with a manual. Years of trying to understand what exactly happens in the brain during an episode of anxiety or when we're feeling depressed has led to numerous treatments by both therapists and general practitioners. Thankfully, all of their research and endless studies of people have led to more wholesome treatments that can resolve the root of the problem.

As opposed to medication, which can often mask symptoms but never truly resolve the core issues, cognitive behavioral therapy, also referred to as CBT, retrains the brain to handle life in a new light. CBT is a means to help people with behavioral and physiological struggles overcome instances of anxiety and depression, as well as other mental disorders. With specific techniques, ones aimed at encouraging the person struggling with these mental afflictions, people learn to help themselves out of stressful situations with ease. In time, and with the help of cognitive behavioral therapy, sufferers begin to change their behavior as though it was never there before.

In this book, we will discuss the science behind CBT as well as the techniques that make it so successful. Well identify why youre thinking and feeling the way that you are as we work to overcome the stresses that are causing you problems in your mental health.

For us to move forward and keep a bright outlook on tomorrow, we must first delve into the science behind CBT and exactly how it is going to help you open your eyes to a future without fear and panic.

C ognitive behavioral therapy has been studied as well as clinically tested with great advances in recent years. This form of therapy has shown to be more effective than certain medications as well as other types of psychological therapy. CBT encompasses several different forms of therapy, which well get into later in this book. Because a person is taught, with the help of CBT, to retrain their brains and learn to replace their negative thoughts with much healthier ones, they can eventually move past their traumas and heal from various mental afflictions.

Cognitive behavioral therapy has its roots in the early 20th century. With conditioning studies conducted by Rosalie Rayner and John B. Watson, the groundwork for psychological therapy began. This husband-and-wife team of psychologists build their career around the relations between the thoughts and feelings that a person has and the behavior that is informed by them.

Albert Ellis, an American psychologist, developed the first known cognitive psychotherapy that he called rational emotive behavioral therapy. While Ellis was working on his theories, other psychotherapists were designing their own. In the 1960s, these studies merged as behavior and cognitive therapy gained traction in the medical community.

Under the umbrella term cognitive therapy, therapists began using the different methods from those previous and numerous studies of early psychologists and psychotherapists. The amalgam of knowledge over years of research allowed for a breakthrough in both cognitive and behavioral therapy. The evidence was everywhere; doctors now knew that their patients were suffering from their own thoughts and emotions. The doctors could help their patients move past their traumas and into a healthier and happier life.

Quite basically, cognitive behavioral therapy is the relationship between behaviors and thoughts. We all have stressful thoughts from time to time and we have our own ways of dealing with them. These thoughts might originate as negative thoughts or they could come from self-doubt and fear. When these thoughts are allowed to live and breathe and take hold in our imagination, we feel anxious and worried. We begin to second guess ourselves and think that were failing at not just the small stuff but sometimes the big stuff. The worst part is that if we let these thoughts hold us for too long, it gets harder and harder to get rid of them.

With prolonged anxiety and self-doubt, we can easily slip into depression. Depression has many faces and some people who are dealing with episodes of depression may not even realize that that is why they are feeling the way they feel. At its heart, depression causes people to feel like they have no reason to get up and go about their day. It can take the most cheerful person and cause them grief from seemingly nowhere. Again, this can come from self-doubt, as our thoughts somehow convince us that we are less worthy of the things we have and the relationships we hold than we truly are.

It isnt a quick overnight process, but you can retrain your brain to think in different ways, and with practice and dedication you will move past your negative thoughts and find happiness. The techniques for cognitive behavioral therapy are proven time and time again, they not only help with anxiety and depression, but they can also help with phobias, eating disorders, and anger issues.

During cognitive behavioral therapy, youll go through starting phases as you work toward replacing your negative thoughts and feelings with healthier ones. To begin with, youll need to understand what it is thats causing you distress and then youll move toward recognizing what it is youll need in order to overcome this distress. In cognitive behavioral therapy, you can expect to experience the following process:

• An assessment of your life and the stressors that caused you suffering. You'll also make note of the feelings and emotions that you experience when youre suffering. Finally, you'll include the behaviors that are associated with these stressors, and more importantly the ones you wish to change.
• The redefining of the behaviors and feelings that stem from unwanted thoughts. This step is the core of cognitive behavioral therapy, as it builds the process necessary to identify and overcome these thoughts. This step is comprehensive and will be the bulk of your work in using CBT.
• A complete review of your skills. Everyone has the skills to overcome negativity and become positive and happy individuals. Some of us need extra work on specific skills, while some people need to learn new skills entirely. This step will allow you to identify what you are already capable of as you recognize your areas of improvement.
• The application of the skills you've learned as well as the techniques to help you rise above negative thoughts. This is the final step in cognitive behavioral therapy, and it is where you will learn to directly apply all of your knowledge to real-world instances.

At any of these steps, you may notice that your life is already changing. It could happen within the first step, as you begin to realize exactly why youre doing the things youre doing, and the feelings that are caused by these behaviors. Sometimes, we are not aware that we are stressed out and acting angrily, for example, simply because of our own thoughts. This early awareness, as you pinpoint the relationship between your thoughts and your behaviors, is monumental in your overall recovery.