Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is a revolutionary form of psychotherapy or "talk therapy" used to treat various psychiatric conditions as well as non-disease daily life emotional problems.
How does CBT work?
Our brain is constantly working to simplify the highly complex information that is thrown at us every moment. Thus, it uses several shortcuts to draw conclusions and speed up information processing. Although the brain is right in vast majority of the cases, occasionally it goes wrong. This error is significantly higher in persons with psychiatric conditions. CBT works by correcting these errors in thinking and drawing conclusions.
An Illustration
Suppose you go to a hospital and see a person wearing a white apron; what comes to your mind? Well he is a doctor! You see a person lying on the road alongside a damaged vehicle and bleeding; you conclude that there has been an accident and the person is in pain! You see a man sitting in a cafe with a coffee mug in his hand; well he is sipping some coffee is what you think!
So in each of the above situations, you can't be absolutely sure that your conclusion was right, but it seems reasonable to make this assumption because it is far more likely to be right, and is economical. For instance, in the "accident situation" how about the damaged car being there since the previous day and the bleeding person just tripped and fell down? Its sure possible, but does not seem worthwhile to consider all possibilities for every situation. Now consider this example below:
Rahul and Rajesh (students) are called to the dean's office. However, both of them are not aware of why they are being called. Rahul is a naturally confident and outgoing guy. He begins to think that may be the dean is pleased with his outstanding performance in the recent exams and is calling him to congratulate him on this. He remains happy the whole day and can't wait to meet the dean the following day. Rajesh, on the other hand, is not so confident. he is worried and had a tough time falling asleep that night. He was contemplating on possible mistakes he could have done in the preceding days and that the dean might be calling him to reprimand him for the same.
It turned out that both of them were wrong! The dean neither congratulated nor reprimanded! He had just called them to assign a task in relation to an upcoming college event! See how conclusions can be erroneous and how it could impact on emotions and behaviour?
The bottom-line
Therefore, CBT works on 3 assumptions.
How does CBT work?
Our brain is constantly working to simplify the highly complex information that is thrown at us every moment. Thus, it uses several shortcuts to draw conclusions and speed up information processing. Although the brain is right in vast majority of the cases, occasionally it goes wrong. This error is significantly higher in persons with psychiatric conditions. CBT works by correcting these errors in thinking and drawing conclusions.
An Illustration
Suppose you go to a hospital and see a person wearing a white apron; what comes to your mind? Well he is a doctor! You see a person lying on the road alongside a damaged vehicle and bleeding; you conclude that there has been an accident and the person is in pain! You see a man sitting in a cafe with a coffee mug in his hand; well he is sipping some coffee is what you think!
So in each of the above situations, you can't be absolutely sure that your conclusion was right, but it seems reasonable to make this assumption because it is far more likely to be right, and is economical. For instance, in the "accident situation" how about the damaged car being there since the previous day and the bleeding person just tripped and fell down? Its sure possible, but does not seem worthwhile to consider all possibilities for every situation. Now consider this example below:
Rahul and Rajesh (students) are called to the dean's office. However, both of them are not aware of why they are being called. Rahul is a naturally confident and outgoing guy. He begins to think that may be the dean is pleased with his outstanding performance in the recent exams and is calling him to congratulate him on this. He remains happy the whole day and can't wait to meet the dean the following day. Rajesh, on the other hand, is not so confident. he is worried and had a tough time falling asleep that night. He was contemplating on possible mistakes he could have done in the preceding days and that the dean might be calling him to reprimand him for the same.
It turned out that both of them were wrong! The dean neither congratulated nor reprimanded! He had just called them to assign a task in relation to an upcoming college event! See how conclusions can be erroneous and how it could impact on emotions and behaviour?
The bottom-line
Therefore, CBT works on 3 assumptions.
- Emotions and behaviours are influenced by thoughts
- Erroneous thoughts can lead to abnormal emotions and disordered conditions
- Correcting abnormal thoughts can successfully treat emotional problems
All right but does it work?
CBT is the most well researched modality of psychotherapeutic treatment and has irrefutable scientific evidence accumulated over half a century. It is practiced all over the world, taught in all reputed universities worldwide and used routinely in most advanced treatment centres across the globe.
So, I hope this clarifies on what exactly is CBT and how you could make the best of it.
For more details, write in at stayhappy.prakash@gmail.com
You might also want to check out my you tube channel Stay Happy!
You might also want to check out my you tube channel Stay Happy!
So until next time, as always, STAY HAPPY!
Dr. Sathya Prakash, MD, Dip. CBT
Consultant Psychiatrist, Psychotherapist and Behavioural Sciences Expert
