Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Techniques - Step 5 Using CBT techniques to change thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.

Cognitive behavioral therapy is a form of talk therapy that helps you to become more aware of your own negative, unproductive, self-defeating thinking about certain situations and/or circumstances and helps you get into the habit of reframing thoughts to be more realistic, encouraging, and optimistic. It is also focused on changing behaviors based on those new thoughts. By learning to recognize unhelpful thoughts and practicing healthier responses, you can help create more balanced emotional and physical reactions. When practiced regularly and often, you'll find yourself becoming mentally/emotionally stronger and more resilient to stressful situations. It can be one of the most important steps in learning how to manage anxiety, panic attacks, depression, and other mental health challenges. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy techniques are helpful to anyone who wants to better manage stressful situations and they can be done in a professional setting with a qualified therapist in combination with other therapies or alone as a form of self-help therapy.

Since this website is dedicated to those looking to help themselves, we will focus here on self-help cognitive behavioral therapy techniques that you can implement at home and on your own.

How long will it take to work?

I am going to be honest here - It will take AS LONG AS IT TAKES for YOU! Everyone is different and how quick you feel the results of this practice will depend on how persistent you are in your self-help therapy. It does take a bit of time to change your thinking and have it become automatic, so be patient with yourself. There is a bit of a learning curve with this therapy and what that curve may be will be unique to you in your own journey.

Important things to consider...

Be HONEST with yourself when doing self-help cognitive behavioral therapy. There is no sense lying to yourself if you are really interested in overcoming your anxiety, panic attacks, depression or other mental health challenge. Being truthful with yourself and part of the deal! Unless you stay truthful and real with yourself you will just be wasting your time.

Plan each day to include time to sit down, be quiet and journal! We spoke about journaling with Step 2 but it is something you must continue to do throughout the course of all guided steps.

If you, at anytime, are finding self-help cognitive behavioral therapy difficult after a good stretch of time, do not put off seeing a professional. A qualified cognitive behavioral therapy therapist can help you immensely. However, if you want, you can also use the Interactive portion of this website to get in touch with others just like yourself to ask questions, share thoughts, or get ideas to help you along the way.

Common Self-Help Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Techniques include:

Cognitive = Thinking

With this technique, you'll be identifying negative/defeating thoughts and notice how these thoughts affect how you feel. In CBT, we often look at how our thoughts influence our emotions and behaviors. So, if you don't feel good emotionally, ask yourself what you are thinking! Some try to do this inside their heads but many times many find this difficult, so write them down if you must and challenge them one by one! Ask yourself, Is what I'm thinking true? Is there a more optimistic way to look at this? If so, what is it? Many negative thoughts that we think are subconscious, come naturally and without effort... the goal is to turn this thinking into a more realistic, optimistic pattern that come naturally without much effort. As difficult as it is, eventually, with persistence and determination, you can do this for yourself. It has been said that for every negative thought, it can take 1000 repetitive positive-counter thoughts to finally stick. So that should tell you how much you need to practice and how important this step is in your recovery.

Behavioral = Action

This is where you plan actions/activities where you can provoke your automatic negative thinking so you can practice positive thought replacement. It is also where you take steps to face your fears while using replacement thoughts. This might mean talking yourself truthfully through unwanted body symptoms, or even through a stressful unwanted situation. If you need help with facing your fears because the feelings are too intense at first, it does help to have a support person with you in the beginning. However, you don't want to become dependent on this support person and eventually will need to face your fears alone. Also, you'll need to be mindful to plan ahead for enough time to practice. For help with time management, click here. There are some excellent free worksheets that you can download online and work as part of your behavioral therapy. A great website is CBT Techniques: 25 Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Worksheets.

Too hard to practice self-help cognitive behavioral therapy?

Sometimes the physical symptoms and racing thoughts during practice are overbearing, making it difficult to practice the therapy needed to get better. This is when you might want to think about trying a natural supplement that can help take the edge off of your symptoms to help make practicing a bit easier. There are many different natural options such as herbs, certain vitamins, and other supplements that people find effective. Many also have scientific research to back them up in their use for stress, anxiety, panic attacks and depression. You'll find all of these options here on our website. And if none of these things work for you and you feel your need professional intervention you may consider prescription medication and can talk about that with your physician.

Additional Resources for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Techniques

Below are some helpful books for learning and practicing cognitive behavioral therapy techniques for anxiety and depression. These step-by-step resources are easy to follow.

• 1. Understanding Anxiety
• 2. Journaling
• 3. Exercise
• 4. Diet and Mental Health
• 5. CBT
• 6. Stress Management
• 7. Self-Talk
• 8. Self-Confidence

Some people find that natural supplements may provide additional support while working through their anxiety recovery journey. When practicing cognitive behavioral therapy techniques and challenging anxious thoughts or fears, some individuals notice that symptoms can temporarily feel stronger. For those who choose to do so, natural supplements may be considered as an optional tool to help provide additional support while continuing to practice healthy recovery strategies.

Supplements are not a replacement for learning healthy coping skills, making lifestyle changes, or working through the recovery steps, but some people choose to include them as part of their overall wellness approach.

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• Supplements for Anxiety and Panic
• High Potency l-Theanine

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Some people find natural approaches helpful for supporting relaxation, managing stress, and easing some of the physical symptoms that can occur while working through anxiety recovery.

These options are not a replacement for learning healthy coping skills or practicing the recovery steps, but they may provide additional support for those who choose to explore them as part of their overall wellness routine.

• Aromatherapy
• Bach Flower Remedies
• Herbal Remedies for Anxiety
• Homeopathic Medicine
• Vitamins & Supplements

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