Use CBT to Challenge Unhelpful Thought Patterns and Beliefs

“I always mess things up.”

“My anxiety will always ruin my life.”

“My partner always disappoints me.”

“Everyone’s judging me for that stupid comment.”

Are you inclined to have negative or unhelpful thoughts? One of the main tenets of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is that our thoughts impact our feelings and our feelings impact our behavior. If our thoughts are negative our feelings and actions will follow suit. Our unhelpful thoughts tend to occur within us automatically; we usually do not slow down to realize where they stem from or examine them to see if they are true or serving us. These thoughts often show up as cognitive distortions, mental biases like all-or-nothing thinking, catastrophizing, or personalizing. These mental biases can feed depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem.

We all have some outdated or false core beliefs that feed our thoughts - like a murky lens that distorts reality. These beliefs might be about ourselves, “I’m not worthy of love or acceptance”, about others, “people never like me”, or the world, “the world is always unfair to me”. These core beliefs can cloud our judgment and keep us from living confident, values-driven lives.

Learning to notice, examine, and reframe or challenge these thoughts through CBT can help you take more thoughtful actions that are in line with the life you want to live.

Since CBT was founded in the 1960’s by Dr. Aaron T. Beck, it has been researched and used as an effective treatment for several mental health disorders including anxiety, depression, PTSD, and insomnia. Many of our therapists use an integrative approach with CBT and other therapies. With an Inner Balance therapist you might work through these unhelpful thoughts and beliefs by talking through them in session, noticing/tracking them outside of your sessions, or practicing thoughts logs together in session or on your own. To learn more about working with a therapist who uses CBT at Inner Balance, reach out to our intake coordinator at info@innerbalanceatlanta.com or fill out our interest form.