Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) Helps Teens And Adults Suffering With Anxiety

By Stephen Daniels

Anxiety is a debilitating ailment that affects the mind, the emotions and the body. Psychologists in New York see it manifest in several forms: obsessive-compulsive disorder, social anxiety disorder, panic disorder, phobias and others. Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is one of the most frequent subtypes of the condition. Characterized by chronic worry, near-constant nervousness and tension, GAD can affect adults and teens. Because it is diffuse and not related to a particular situation such as a phobia, it impacts a person’s whole life, making normal life extremely difficult.

Despite its imposing hold on one’s life, there is a way out. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT for short, has proven to be extremely successful in helping individuals restore their normal sense of self. In the mid 1950s, Albert Ellis established Rational Emotive Therapy as an alternative option to psychoanalysis. Origins of this forerunner to CBT reach back to the Stoic philosophers of Ancient Greece and Rome:

“Men are disturbed not by things, but by the view which they take of them.” – Epictetus

Ever since then, theorists and practitioners including Aaron Beck, Dr. Maxie Maultsby, Jr. and, more recently, Marsha Linehan have made important contributions to the approach, helping to make it what it is today.

The goal of CBT is to help individuals realize how their own negative thoughts – called cognitions – fuel their anxiety, and to objectively look at how their behavior and situational reactions set off their anxiety. Beliefs held, in some instances for one’s whole life, profoundly affect how one sees the world. Generally speaking, those who are afflicted by anxiety hold irrational and/or unrealistic beliefs that must be changed before positive change can occur.

The treatment is split up into two portions: cognitive therapy and behavioral therapy. During the first section, the therapist helps the patient recognize cognitive distortions, which are a kind of assumption resulting from negative thoughts. For instance, if someone believes they will appear awkward and weird at a social gathering (negative thought), he might erroneously assume everyone will hate him because of his awkwardness. A prediction of the worst-case scenario and jumping to an irrational conclusion are the distortions resulting from the initial thought.

The basic outline is to identify negative thoughts, and to learn to challenge them and replace them with positive ones. The final step can be very difficult, for the negativity might be reinforced by lifelong patterns. Because of these hardened belief systems and patterns of self-negating behavior, it’s crucial that one actively take part in their therapy, which requires individual and group sessions as well as homework. CBT often shows results after just a couple months, but only if the patient works at it.

Healing depression isn’t merely a matter of taking medication – that only covers up the symptoms for a brief period of time. Similarly, trying to motivate oneself to relax or not get anxious is more difficult than it sounds, for the causes of anxiety are normally deeply rooted in one’s psyche. In addition to being a major disruptive force in daily life that impacts thoughts and emotions, anxiety can have physical ramifications as well. Tension, edginess, insomnia and stomach issues are quite common among those who suffer from anxiety issues.

People struggling with GAD have similar worries as other people, only theirs are more severe and largely inseparable from their daily lives. New York City psychologists can help people of all ages conquer this chronic disorder. The cognitive behavioral therapy will help a person identify the relationship between his thoughts and behaviors and his anxiety. Together with a program of regular exercise and relaxation techniques such as meditation, it’s possible to see the world in a whole new, positive light.

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If you or someone you know is suffering from anxiety, author Stephen Daniels highly recommends the expertise of Manhattan DBT therapists for treatment of emotion regulation problems. The counselors there specialize in the use of CBT, MBCT, and DBT in working with their patients.

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Tags: anxiety, CBT, cbt associates, CBT NYC, cognitive behavioral therapy new york, cognitive behavioral therapy new york city, health, new york city psychologists, psychologist, psychologists in New York, psychologists New York City, Psychology, therapy

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