Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
What is CBT?
Cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, is built on a simple idea: thoughts, feelings and actions affect each other. Change one and the others tend to follow. A person who thinks "everyone at the party will judge me" feels dread, skips the party, and never finds out the thought was wrong. CBT works on that loop.
Psychiatrist Aaron Beck developed cognitive therapy in the 1960s, around the same time psychologist Albert Ellis was building a similar approach. Today CBT is one of the most researched forms of therapy, with strong evidence for depression, anxiety disorders, OCD, PTSD and insomnia. Adapted versions are also used for psychosis, bipolar disorder and substance use.
What sessions involve
Spotting thoughts. Noticing what goes through your mind when your mood drops or anxiety spikes.
Testing them. Looking at the evidence, considering other explanations, and running small experiments.
Changing behavior. Doing the thing you've been avoiding, a little at a time, and seeing what actually happens.
Practice between sessions. Short exercises that carry the work into the week.
Why we do CBT outside the office
The between-sessions part is where CBT most often falls apart. People understand the ideas in the therapy room and then can't use them when the anxious thought hits in the checkout line.
Sanare clinicians practice CBT with clients where those thoughts come up. If the fear is that coworkers will notice your hands shaking, we might practice at a coffee shop first. If depression says there's no point applying for jobs, we sit down and send one application together, then look at what happened. The skills stick better because they were learned in the place they're needed.
Who we use it with
CBT is part of our work with anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, trauma and young adults who are stuck. For more on the research, the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies is a good source.
CBT in Denver
We work with adults across the Denver and Boulder metro. Individual psychotherapy at Sanare may be covered by Original Medicare for eligible clients; see our FAQ. Contact us or call 303.476.1974.