How Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and mindfulness can help us overcome many mental conditions that are “thought-focused” – like anxiety, OCD, and depression.
Main Points
- CBT is a modern form of psychotherapy that has shown to be effective in treating anxiety disorders, OCD, and some forms of depression.
- I believe CBT is effective in treating these kinds of mental disorders because they are often very “thought-driven.” CBT’s specialty is focusing on how thoughts affect our mood and behavior.
- Mindfulness is a big tool in the CBT arsenal that helps us acknowledge whatever thoughts arise in the present moment, without reacting to the content.
- Using mindfulness we can watch the thoughts that enter our head, but without judging ourselves nor acting (or reacting) to those thoughts impulsively.
- Mindfulness of negative thinking can be analogous to watching scary movies. We know there is no real, immediate threat. We can sit back and view our thoughts without attaching or identifying to them.
- By acknowledging thoughts non-judgmentally, they lose their power over our mood and behavior. They just are what they are – neither good nor bad.
- At times, awareness isn’t enough to alleviate a mental disorder. In this case, CBT and mindfulness can be used to come up with solutions, such as ways to cognitively restructure how we view a past or future events.
- We can assign new meaning to past events by framing them as learning experiences or events that made us stronger.
Question
- Have you tried CBT or something similar? How did it work out for you?
March 18th, 2011
CBT has a few problems. It does help some people with some things.
The theory doesn't predict its results. (Cognitive restructuring – the longer term work should lead to greater results, but the best results happen initially.
It is pretty useless in the experience of those I know with any major disturbance – very traumatic events in the past. It doesn't lead to flourishing for these people though it can establish a breathing space with symptom control. (I disagree with those who see symptom control being the same as cure. I think cure means flourishing).
March 18th, 2011
>The theory doesn't predict its results.
In what sense? CBT has a lot of empirical evidence to support its claims, especially in regards to the aforementioned mental disorders. Here is a 2006 meta-analysis that found large effects for: unipolar depression, generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder with or without agoraphobia, social phobia, posttraumatic stress disorder, and childhood depressive and anxiety disorders.
March 19th, 2011
Though neuroplasticity, CBT, actually physically changes the brain. CBT and mindfulness helped me to recover from a brain injury and depression. It really works and eventually, with repetition, it becomes your default mode of thinking and existing. As you say, it takes away the power of the negative thought patterns. Good stuff!
My recent post The Wolves Within
March 20th, 2011
Hi Steven,
I love the fact that you write the main points, but could you add a quick transcript (i.e. a longer version of the main points, not everything needed)? I don't watch video (or listen to audio) posts as I only read blogs through my RSS while in my daily commute, without WiFi, thus I'm missing a lot of probably very interesting content.
Cheers,
Ruben
My recent post Zen Is Just This
March 20th, 2011
Newer, third-wave behavior therapies incorporate mindfulness and acceptance processes into CBT. One particular therapy technology that is appropriate to this discussion is Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), which unlike traditonal CBT, does not attempt to alter the form or frequency of aversive cognition, emotion, or sensation. Rather, it utilizes mindfulness and acceptance to change the way an individual relates to these experiences. Recently, ACT was listed as an evidence-based treatment by NREPP. Also, check out the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science, the online home of ACT at :
contextualpsychology.org