How Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Helps To Treat Stress |
Posted: August 14, 2018 |
Cognitive behavioral therapy was developed by the psychologist Aaron Beck, and at about the same time the psychologist Albert Ellis developed a similar method under the name of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT). The latter is sometimes called RET or Rational Emotional Therapy. Cognitive behavioral therapy is also abbreviated in English as CBT or Cognitive Behavior Therapy. What is cognitive behavioral therapy?
Cognitive behavioral therapy assumes that most psychological problems are caused by the 'thoughts' of man. In short: What you think causes what you do or feel. Of course this is a slight exaggeration, but it is true to a large extent. What people think will greatly influence their behavior and their feelings. And the advantage of this approach is that thoughts are easier to influence than behaviors or feelings, and that it is safer than administering medication. So in a sense, there is something to be said for that in most cases it is advisable to consider whether we can not solve a problem by addressing the thoughts that cause it. We also know what fanatic thoughts can lead to: war, terrorism and many other social dramas are also caused by negative thoughts of people. How does cognitive behavioral therapy treat stress?We know that most negative stress is provoked by negative thoughts. This applies even if other causes cause the stress. Even then, the presence or absence of negative thoughts can make the difference between the emergence of negative stress or not. So even in objective diseases such as migraine or even epilepsy, we know in medicine that the presence of negative thoughts or negative stress can determine whether or not you will get an attack today. So the method of cognitive behavioral therapy is to ask yourself the question at every stressful event: "what was going on in my mind?" Once you have found that thought, you can ask yourself whether it is actually a negative thought (usually this is the case). If so, you can ask yourself - with or without the help of your doctor, therapist or self-help program - which more positive thought might well be true. So you go looking for a positive thought that has the same chance of being true as your negative thought from before. As soon as you have found that positive thought, you will choose a method together with your supervisor to practice it more firmly so that it is ingrained into your memory until it is a spontaneous habit. This process can be supervised by a doctor or psychologist who has received a thorough therapeutic training, or by registering for an online self-help program.
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