Many in our world struggle with a variety of mental health concerns. From anxiety to obsessive compulsive disorder to any number of mental health struggles, there are many of our friends and family that fight with these various matters. And quite often these struggles can be debilitating, negatively impacting different facets of your loved one’s life. We have seen how much these things hurt our loved ones, and when they hurt we hurt.
When we experience this hurt with them we do begin to wonder if there is anything that can be done for our loved one. We know about the availability of numerous medications that are specifically manufactured for mental health. And it would seem that the proclivity of medical professionals is to prescribe these medications. However, as useful and needful as medications are, nonetheless, we often want to ensure that all forms of support and therapy are taken into consideration.
One such means of treatment is called Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. But what exactly is this form of mental health treatment? Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is defined as a method of mental health therapy that deals directly with difficulties one has. Additionally, it improves the gladness of the one besieged with these issues. And how is it done? Well, it is done by altering out of whack feelings, judgments of one’s self and others, and actions. Instead of focusing on the past, CBT concentrates on providing answers to distorted thoughts and changing those forms of conduct that are destroying the patient.
It is wonderful to know that there is something for our loved ones, or even for ourselves, that is intent on going after what is causing the trouble and helping to change the effects, rather than simply mask them. But, many of us have likely never heart of CBT, so we will undoubtedly wonder what some sort of cognitive behavioral therapy techniques would be. And, furthermore, are these sorts of things able to be done without the help of a therapist.
The first thing that must be said is that there are a number of things that can be done by an individual to help his or her mental health without seeing a professional. Furthermore, it should also be said that these things should be done so as to help the individual in his or her immediate context. Yet, while these sorts of self-help solutions are greatly beneficial, they do not negate or overshadow the value of having a professional come alongside one’s self and giving a high level of wonderful, empathetic specialized care. Doing self-care is significant and desirable, but doing self-care with the help of a well-trained, caring professional is of exponential value.
So, what are some of these valuable techniques as you or your loved one searches for an empathetic expert? Well, there are two headings for these techniques: cognitive and behavioral, hence cognitive behavioral. The first of these, cognitive, have to deal with the mind and how one thinks. A first means of helping one’s thinking would be to first study what your thought patterns are and learn to recognize them. What is it that you commonly think about and what brings those thoughts on? The second thing that can be done here is notice how these thoughts impact the way that you feel and the way that you act. When your thoughts are positive, do you feel positive and act positively? And when they are negative are the results negative?
A third thing you can do is think through those thoughts and figure out if they properly display reality? You must take a step back and see if they are actually true. And even if they are true be realistic with yourself. And this is why it is helpful to have a professional you can speak with because you can run these thoughts by them and he or she can help you put those things into perspective.
And as important as it is to deal with one’s thoughts, one must also deal with how one acts, how one behaves. As much as what one thinks impacts how one acts, so too does how one act impact how one thinks. So, a first thing that one can do is arrange for one’s self something to do that one enjoys and brings about a feeling of achievement. There is hardly any better feeling than a job well done, especially when you like to do it. Another means of helping your behavior is maintaining your time. Just as doing a task well is a benefit to one’s self, so too is wasting your time a detriment to one’s self. And instead of looking at large tasks as insurmountable, tackle them in small portions, bringing those overwhelming things down to a level where you can conquer them bit by bit. How do you eat an elephant? You eat an elephant one bite at a time.
We often either know people who struggle with their mental health, or we ourselves are those who struggle with our mental health. And the good news is that there are means of help for this form of struggle. One such form of help is CBT. This form of therapy works on the thoughts and actions of the one suffering. And when coupled with the help of a professional steering the course, there can be a great deal of healing.
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