Exploring Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Anxiety Relief

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is one of the most common and effective treatments for anxiety. While people can struggle with different symptoms and severities, CBT helps by breaking down negative thought patterns and making it easier to take control of your mental well-being. 

Anxiety is one of the most common mental health conditions in the world. As such, there are a variety of different treatment and symptom management options to consider. 

If you’ve been on the fence about CBT or simply want to learn more, let’s dig a bit deeper into what you can expect, and whether CBT is right for you. 

What Is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy?

CBT is a type of talk therapy that focuses on changing negative thought patterns and behaviors. Your thoughts, feelings, and actions are all connected and work together. When you’re dealing with negative thoughts associated with anxiety, all of those things can start to become tangled, making you feel like you’re trapped within a vicious cycle. 

The goal of CBT is to help you break down the negative issues you’re facing so they’re smaller and less overwhelming. When you’re able to do that, you can start to take control over your anxious thoughts and break free from the negative patterns causing fear and worry. Not only will you feel more in control, but you’ll be able to restructure your thought process into something more positive and productive. 

What Are CBT Techniques for Anxiety?

Cognitive restructuring is a common technique therapists will often use to help with anxiety. It can be a very personal experience depending on the type of anxiety you tend to struggle with. For example, maybe you always assume the worst. Or, maybe you’re fearful of social situations. 

Those fears can impact your behaviors and become worse without some kind of reframing process. 

Your therapist will help you by encouraging you to challenge negative thoughts. You might not even know why you have certain fears or worries. Challenging them will make it easier to understand the cause of your anxiety so you can gain more power over it. 

Some therapists might have you keep a journal to record your thoughts. Journaling is a great way to make you feel more connected to your anxious thoughts so you can better understand them. Journaling can also make it easier to figure out how to replace anxious thoughts with positive ones. It serves as a tangible way to track your progress and see how far you’ve come as you continue with treatment. 

Learning to Relax

During your CBT sessions, you might also go through a few behavioral experiments. Your therapist might offer you a hypothetical situation to consider, so you can either talk about or write down your fears. They might ask you about the worst-case scenario of that situation. Then, you can talk things through and decide what you would do if that worst-case scenario were to happen. This exercise helps you feel more in control. It can make you realize that your fears might not always be based in reality. 

A CBT therapist can also help with relaxation techniques. Learning to relax on your own is one of the best ways to manage the daily symptoms of anxiety. Things like deep breathing exercises, mindfulness, and meditation are all fantastic ways to reduce stress, feel more relaxed, and ground yourself in the present rather than worrying about the “what ifs” of the future. 

Just because anxiety is a common condition doesn’t mean you have to live with it forever. If you’re interested in learning more about CBT and how it can help, feel free to set up an appointment or call for a consultation for anxiety treatment.