Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Broward County FL Offers To Help Facilitate Change

By Larry Hughes


Psychotherapy has many branches. Most have minor differences one from the other. One that is somewhat different and very successful is cognitive behavioral therapy. It is referred to as CBT. The premise is that every person has negative thought patterns that should be altered. They can be turned into positive thought patterns. This premise applies to the treatment of depression and other disorders. The availability of cognitive behavioral therapy Broward County FL benefits many citizens.

The goals set are intended to change the dysfunctional behavior that brings the patient to seek help. The patient and therapist work together to set the goals. Homework is assigned, unlike in most therapies. It must be understood that there is a direct relationship between thoughts and feelings and the resulting behavior the person exhibits.

CBT therapists strive to uncover how unhealthy thoughts cause self-destructive beliefs. Then the therapist helps the patient to understand how those unhealthy thoughts are causing the problems he is experiencing in life. When understanding can be gained, the patient can work to alter destructive thought patterns to positive ones.

The therapy works to find the unhealthy thought patterns that are causing destructive beliefs. If the patient can realize what they are and how they are having a bad effect on his life, he can work towards altering them. Then positive thought patterns can replace them.

One of the homework assignments the therapist asks the patient to do is keep a journal. This is especially helpful when the mental disorders are depression, anxiety, eating and bipolar. Research indicates CBT is known to be a way to improve brain functioning along with altering thoughts and behaviors.

A psychiatrist named Aaron Beck invented CBT in the nineteen sixties. At the time he was working in psychoanalyst. In the process he recognized that certain patterns of thought might cause anxiety. Anxiety is not productive.

From this premise he realized the importance of the link between thoughts and feelings. The person feeling upset tended to have negative thoughts. If they could be identified it was the beginning of being able to change them to positive ones.

It was named cognitive therapy and placed the focus on thinking. Because it was based on thought and behavior, it later was changed to cognitive behavioral therapy. The validity of this therapy has been scientifically acknowledged.

It was first named cognitive therapy. The emphasis of it was placed on thinking. The name cognitive behavioral therapy was based on thoughts and behavior. Scientific testing has been done that proved the effectiveness of this course of treatment for mental dysfunction.

According to Beck the thought patterns start in childhood and eventually become automatic. A thought becomes an incorrect belief and is a dysfunctional assumption that may be harmful if negative. The person may grow up to believe he cannot do well in school because a teacher inadvertently made a statement causing him to feel inferior.

Dr. Beck believes the negative thought patterns are inculcated during childhood. Eventually they become automatic thinking. For example, a child may think he is not able to do well in academic work. A teacher may have said something that made him believe that. This incorrect belief caused him to feel incompetent.




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