What is CBT?

CBT stands for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and it's arguably the gold standard of psychotherapy that’s been shown across hundreds of studies to alleviate depression and anxiety, and encourage positive thinking and behaviors.

One of the reasons that men hesitate to try therapy is because they don’t want to drag up the past over and over again, but that’s not what CBT is all about. Instead, it focuses on the present — the problems you’re having right now, and the way you’ll respond to them.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy rejects the principle that the pain and upset we feel stems from the situations we face; we can’t put all the blame on our circumstances. Instead, CBT proposes that pain arises from the way we interpret and react to problems — the thoughts and actions that arise in response to events.

Because of this, CBT seeks to identify unhelpful, negative, and irrational thought patterns that only cause self-punishment and suffering. By identifying them, we can begin challenging them and replacing them with healthier, more productive ones. That’s the “cognitive” aspect of CBT.

The “behavioral” component of CBT comes from the next step: developing healthier responses and coping methods in preparation for when negative thoughts or emotions are inevitable and can’t be avoided.

The ABC Framework

Trained CBT therapists have lots of different approaches and techniques they can use to break down negative thoughts and reframe them, but one framework that you can begin trying to use on yourself is the ABC model.

Created by a celebrated psychologist called Albert Ellis, this very simple yet effective framework proposes that any stressful situation can be divided into three parts: Adversity, Beliefs, and Consequences.

If you take a situation in your life that’s causing you distress, you’ll notice that it always begins with an activating event, some kind of adversity that sets your negative thoughts into motion. 

This adversity then triggers your thoughts and beliefs about the situation. A setback in your personal life might lead you to believe, for example: I’m making a fool of myself, I’m disappointing everyone, and I’ll never be successful.

These kinds of beliefs then lead to consequences. You’re mental health suffers. You may feel feelings of embarrassment, shame, and low self-esteem. This leads you to adopt unhelpful coping mechanisms, like avoiding people and backing away from challenges and opportunities, for example.

Now that you’ve mapped out your situation in three steps, you should hopefully be able to view it more objectively. Through this new perspective, you should notice that it’s your beliefs that have caused negative consequences, not the initial adversity.

So, what’s the solution? How do you overcome what’s happened? You change your beliefs. In response to a setback, for example, you could remember that setbacks are totally normal — everyone experiences them in life. You could also think about all the times that you’ve overcome touch challenges in the past, encouraging you to believe that you can overcome this one too.

By replacing your negative beliefs with positive beliefs in this way, you take control. Instead of resigning yourself to being a victim of your circumstances, you become an active force — a force to be reckoned with, influencing the final consequences of an event for the better. Thanks to your more positive beliefs, you become more resilient and think in a more productive way that allows you to solve the problems you’re faced with.

Sources
Mind - Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)
Healthline - Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: What Is It and How Does It Work?
Verywell Health - How the ABC Model Works in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy