How Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Helps With Overcoming Anxiety

Anxiety can occur for any number of reasons. In general, people who are feeling anxious feel that their thoughts are out of control. Symptoms of anxiety can include trouble sleeping, difficulty concentrating, and a marked inability to participate in typical day to day activities. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, focuses on the thought processes that come along with anxiety, and through the help of a trained therapist, people that are suffering from anxiety learn new thought patterns to help them better manage anxiety.

When Anxiety Results in Thoughts Not Based in Reality

If you suffer from anxiety periodically, then you understand that it is very difficult to think rationally when you are anxious. The thought patterns that are not based in reality can slowly be changed by participating in CBT. For example, each time you go to take a shower, you may feel panicked. This may result in an unrealistic thought that the shower is causing you to feel panic. You may avoid taking a shower to avoid feeling the panic. In CBT treatment, you will learn how to change this thought into a more productive thought pattern like "I am simply feeling anxious. The shower is not causing it." 

Changing Thought Patterns for Long Term Improvement

While medications to treat anxiety will help in the short term, they aren't dealing with the underlying issues that cause the anxiety in the first place. In order to truly heal from an anxiety disorder, you have to figure out what your triggers are and learn how to better manage these triggers. Once again, this means you will need to learn how to change your thought patterns so that the anxiety doesn't take control of you. Through the help of a mental health counselor, you will be able to figure out what triggers your anxiety. This is the first step to figuring out how you can think differently about what makes you feel anxious. Working through your anxiety and changing how you approach anxiety producing situations is your best shot at long-term improvement.

If you are concerned about going to a treatment provider to deal with your anxiety, you are not alone. Most people that suffer from anxiety are worried about the treatment itself. The good news is, your therapist will work closely with you and go at a pace that you are comfortable with. You can find freedom from anxiety if you work with a qualified CBT therapist to address this issue.

For more information, contact local professionals like Dr. Stephen Brown & Associates.