Mental health articles

cognitive behavioral therapy definition Cognitive behavioural therapy (also known as CBT) is based on the idea
that a person’s beliefs about what they do, and their reasons for doing
them, are as important as what they actually do. In other words a person’s
thinking, assumptions and beliefs about the world are as important as his
or her actions. The main aim of this type of therapy is to change the way
the person thinks about certain situations, which in turn could help him or
her to cope better. For example, depressed people tend to think that they
are not good at anything. This thought would affect the way they view a
successful event (e.g. ‘itwas pure luck’) and how they cope with failure (e.g.
self-blame: ‘I always fail’). In cognitive behavioural therapy the person will
learn not to generalize these negative thoughts over all aspects of life (e.g.
‘I have been unsuccessful in one area’).