Treating Anxiety And Depression Using Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

Updated: Jun 22

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) Addresses Anxiety And Depression

CBT Therapist: Cognitive behavioural therapy ( CBT) is a widely practiced and research-based approach used in counselling and psychotherapy. It is a preferred therapy because it can quickly help you identify and cope with specific challenges.

CBT is a form of talk therapy that is known to be effective for a wide range of issues including depression and anxiety disorders, serious psychological problems like Bi- Polar and Schizophrenia, sleep disorders and marital problems. But not everyone who uses CBT has mental issues. CBT can be an effective tool to help anyone learn how to better manage stressful life situations personally or professionally.

CBT Changes Unhealthy Thought Patterns

Psychological problems are partly due to faulty or unhelpful thought patterns and learned behaviours. CBT usually involves effort to change thinking patterns.

The CBT Therapist helps clients make sense of overwhelming problems by breaking them down into five main areas that are interconnected and affect each other:

• Situations
• Thoughts
• Emotions
• Physical feelings
• Actions

For example, the way you think about events and situations in your life can influence the way you feel about them. If you can change the way you think, this will change how you feel physically, emotionally and how you respond.

If you believe you may have symptoms of anxiety or depression, consult us for highly effective CBT treatment. With a Masters in Counselling and over 20 years of experience, our wellness specialist provides personalised CBT sessions which provide effective, long-term results.

Call or whatsapp us at +65-8822-9610 today for an appointment. We also offer e-consultations for client convenience.

What Makes CBT Different

CBT is different from many other psychotherapies because it’s:

• Pragmatic – it identifies specific problems and tries to solve them
• Highly structured – you and your therapist discuss specific problems and set goals for you to achieve
• Focused on current problems – it’s mainly concerned with how you think and act now rather than attempting to resolve past issues
• Collaborative – your CBT therapist works with you to find solutions to your current difficulties

The Basic CBT Model

The late Dr Albert Ellis (1994) , used a simple model to show how we upset ourselves about negative events in our lives. Here’s an example:

A – Activating event : break-up of a relationship

B – Beliefs or thoughts: ‘I’m not good enough ‘

C – Emotional or behavioural consequences: depression and isolation

(A) does not result directly in (C). Not everyone will feel the same in a break-up. Your beliefs, thoughts and experiences in (B) ultimately determine how you feel. Choosing an attitude and how you react and cope with adversity and challenges is your responsibility and no one else’s . No one can dictate your attitude unless you allow it.

However, changing your thoughts, beliefs and ultimately your attitude is easier said than done. When we are upset we tend to process information in a distorted way. Your CBT Therapist will teach you how to do this by recognising distorted thinking, challenging your thinking by asking yourself the right questions. Here are some common ways:

• All or nothing thinking : seeing events in extreme ways
• Magnification and minimisation : exaggerating the negative and reducing the positive
• Personalising : taking too much blame for events you’re not totally responsible for
• Emotional reasoning : you believe something is true because you believe it strongly
• Mind- reading : Assuming you ’know’ the others’ thoughts without actually asking them
• Should’s and ‘Musts’ : rigid rules imposed on self
• What if : Anxiety, future- oriented thinking about impending danger or threat where the person is vulnerable.

What Other Skills Will I Learn Through A CBT Therapist?

• Manage symptoms of mental illness.
• Prevent a relapse of mental illness.
• Learn techniques for coping with life’s stressful situations.
• Treat mental illness when medications are not an option.
• Use problem-solving skills to cope with difficult situations.
• Gain a greater sense of confidence in one’s own abilities.
• Change behavioural patterns.
• Face one’s fears instead of avoiding them.
• Use role play to prepare for potentially problematic interactions with others.
• Learn to calm one’s mind and relax one’s body.

Not all these CBT skills will be relevant to you. The CBT Therapist and you, the client, will collaborate and work in a structured way to develop an understanding of the problem and to develop a treatment strategy that you will work through in fewer sessions than other therapies.

CBT helps you become your own CBT Therapist in any life or work situation. You will learn these skills through the exercises and homework that you will need to do in order to learn coping skills, identify and change distorted thinking, difficult emotions and behaviours.

The CBT Therapist focuses on your current problem and what led to it. Some history is always useful too. CBT can also be used alone, or in combination with other therapies, to assist clients in treating anxiety and depression.

Generally, CBT may take a few weeks to months to start seeing results, depending on each client’s case.

If you are looking for assistance to treat and overcome your anxiety and/or depression, please click on the following link to contact us.

With a Masters in Counselling, our in-house psychotherapist, Rita Haque, believes in guiding her clients to understand the heart of their problems first, and subsequently empowers them with the skills they need to manage and address the challenges they face.

Rita is trained and skilled in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and as a qualified CBT Therapist, routinely uses the process to assist clients with anxiety and/or depression in their recovery.

Call or whatsapp us at +65-8822-9610 today for an appointment. We also offer e-consultations for clients, for their convenience.