CBT

Cognitive behavioral therapy

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is fundamentally concerned with the meanings which people make of their experiences. The insight of the CBT model is that it is not events that bother us. Instead it is the way that we interpret events – the meaning that we give to them – that gives rise to our feelings. The What Is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)? information handout is a simple way to help your clients understand the basics of CBT.

It introduces three essential cognitive behavioral messages:

• What you think and do affects the way you feel.
• We can understand problems by examining our thoughts, emotions, physiology, and behavior in specific situations.
• Our best efforts to cope with our feelings often result in unintended consequences that prevent us from feeling better.