Feeling overwhelmed is a normal human experience. Everyone will face hardship or setbacks at some point in their lives. When people face a challenge, they may slip into negative and untrue thinking. They may tell themselves thinks like, “this is not fair!” … or “I cannot do anything right!” These thoughts are called cognitive distortions, and they are negative, untrue thoughts that hold people back from achievement and change. People can rarely change the hardship or the setback they face, but they can always change their perspective. Many people are learning to do just that, change their thinking. In the process, they are also changing their lives.
“Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude.”
—Zig Ziglar
Positive change often begins with an internal change. People have significant control over what they think and feel, but changing one’s perspective is never as easy as changing the channel on the TV. When people are ready to work on their own thought patterns, they often need help. Many people have found the help they need with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).
A proven therapeutic technique, CBT can be utilized in a variety of circumstances. In clinical research, CBT often helped clients experience substantial and long-term change. For depression and anxiety patients, they felt a similar amount of symptom relief through CBT as they did with medication. CBT’s goal is to empower clients with cognitive and emotional skills. Clients often feel empowered and experience the benefits of CBT long after sessions have ended.
Cognitive behavioral therapy has been used in therapy to treat…
- Anxiety and depression
- Insomnia
- Anger management
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
- Relationship issues
- Mood swings
- Self-destructive habits
- Drug and/or alcohol addiction
- General health issues
- Child and adolescent issues
Thriveworks Peachtree City offers cognitive behavioral therapy, and our counselors, psychologists, and therapists have seen firsthand the changes it can bring.
What Is CBT?
Cognitive behavioral therapy is a psychotherapy that is both practical and proactive. Clients present a particular psychological, social, emotional, or relational challenge they are facing. The therapist and client then work through how the client may be perceiving the challenge. The focus is not directly on the difficulty. Instead, CBT focuses upon a client’s response to a difficulty.
For example, when clients have relational struggles, their own interpretation of the events may be exacerbating or even creating the problem. Consider Dan’s situation. Dan’s friend suggested last week that they should find a weekend to go hiking. His friend said that he would check his calendar and text him a few dates that would work. Since then, Dan has not heard from his friend, and Dan is beginning to feel anxious. He is telling himself, “I probably did something to offend him. He’s avoiding me because I’m a terrible friend.” Dan knows none of this. Through CBT, Dan and his therapist can talk about this situation and identify what is true: Dan and his friend usually enjoy spending time together. Dan cannot think of anything he has done to offend his friend, and his friend would tell him if he had. Dan can also text his friend and ask how his week is going. Maybe he is just having a busy week at work.
Root Problems: Cognitive Distortions
Just like Dan, negative and untrue thoughts can plague anyone. Replacing these cognitive distortions with true, positive thoughts begins with being able to identify the faulty thinking. Here are a few examples of some of the most common cognitive distortions:
- Polarized thinking means people are looking at their circumstances with an all-or-nothing mindset. It can also be black-and-white thinking. They do not allow for gray or for shades.
- Blaming happens when people look for fault in every circumstance. Sometimes, no one is to blame, and sometimes, finding fault is simply not helpful.
- Catastrophizing means people anticipate the worst possible outcome. They magnify any setback or challenges as a sure sign of catastrophe.
- Control fallacies has to do with people giving away control or taking too much control. For example, children often blame themselves when their parents split up, even though they had no control over the situation.
- Filtering dismisses anything positive or good so that people look at the world through a lens of negativity.
- Overgeneralization draws a universal principle from one event. For example, someone who struggles with insomnia may tell themselves after a particularly bad night, “I will never sleep again.”
- Emotional reasoning means people do not distinguish between an external reality and their internal feelings about it. For example, when people feel guilty, they conclude they must have done something wrong (even if they have not).
- Fairness fallacy happens when people contrast and compare their lives to others and measure by an arbitrary standard of fairness.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy with Thriveworks Peachtree City’s Counselors, Psychologists
Think through the cognitive distortions listed above. Did you recognize any in your own thought life? If you are ready to replace negative thinking with a more positive outlook, know that Thriveworks Peachtree City is ready to help. Our counselors offer cognitive behavioral therapy, and we have appointments available.
When you contact our office, one of our scheduling specialists will answer your call—not a voicemail. You may have your first appointment within 24 hours. We work with most insurance companies. We also offer evening and weekend appointments, but we do not keep a waitlist.
We are ready to get started. Contact Thriveworks Peachtree City today.
Anger, Behavioral Issues, Coping Skills, Self Esteem, Stress, +4 more 
