Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is a type of psychotherapy that helps a person learn how to challenge unhelpful thinking, habits, feelings and behaviours. The main focus of CBT is how thinking (cognition) affects behaviour (actions).
It is used to treat a wide range of psychological problems, including:
- Anxiety disorders
- Depression
- Low self-esteem
- Anger
- Irrational fears (phobias)
- Hypochondria
- Substance abuse
- Problem gambling
- Eating disorders
- Insomnia
- Relationship problems
- Emotional or behavioural problems in children and teenagers
It involves using practical self-help strategies, to bring out positive actions immediately. As a therapeutic method, it requires work on the part of the patient. In CBT this entails recording your thoughts and behaviour and actively challenging whether they are reasonable things to feel negatively about.
