What is CBT?

Maybe you’ve heard of CBT, or Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, in passing—maybe you have a solid understanding of it, or maybe it’s an entirely new concept for you. The fundamental concept of CBT is that your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are all interconnected and influence one another.  For example, unhelpful thoughts (such as “I’m a total failure”) can lead to distressing emotions (such as feeling defeated, hopeless, angry or overwhelmed), which can result in unhealthy behaviors (such as quitting a job, isolating yourself from family and friends, or substance misuse).

But first, it’s important to be able to identify which is which. Because they’re so intertwined, many people aren’t used to identifying whether something is, for example, a thought or a feeling. Let’s look at an example of how to separate thoughts, feelings and behaviours.

Situation: Sue’s friend hasn’t arrived for their dinner plans yet and is 20 minutes late.

Thoughts: Sue’s thinking, “I must have upset him at the party last weekend, and he doesn’t want to be friends anymore”.

Emotions: Sue blames herself and is feeling anxious, guilty and embarrassed. Her body feels too warm and her breathing is fast.

Behaviour: Sue decides to leave the restaurant because she thinks the staff are judging her.

These behaviours can further contribute to negative thoughts—forming a vicious cycle. CBT aims to break this cycle by helping you identify any thoughts or beliefs that may be inaccurate or unhealthy and to provide you with the skills to develop a more balanced and accurate perspective.