CBT principles before you begin your CBT journey.
Let's take a look at some of its core principles.
These will help guide you along the path to effective practice.
CBT emphasizes collaboration and active participation.
CBT works best when you take an active role in defining treatment goals and deciding how to move toward
them.
The therapy practice, guided by either a therapist or a resource like this one, brings expertise about
general principles and techniques.
But it takes collaboration to tailor those components to your specific needs.
CBT is goal oriented and zeroes in on the specific problems.
A crucial part of the work in CBT is defining the problem, which then makes that a problem feel more
manageable.
Defining clear goals that are important to you is a closely related step in the treatment.
These goals will focus your energy and fuel your efforts as we work toward them.
CBT is rooted in the here and now, while some therapists concentrate primarily on childhood events,
CBT focuses on how one's thoughts and actions in the present may be a part of ongoing struggles and
how changing those patterns might be helpful.
Though CBT does consider important learning experiences from early in life, its emphasis on the present
makes it an empowering treatment, focusing on factors that are within our control.
CBT aims to teach you how to be your own therapist.
With CBT, you will learn a few basic skills to help you manage the issues that brought you to therapy.
By practicing, you can apply these techniques on your own, even with the new challenges that arise.
CBT is a teach a person to fish kind of treatment that stays with you once therapy is over.