CBT-Based Self-Help – My Canadian Pharmacy and Sirius Project, siriusproject.org

In this article, Sirius will tell you about cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and self-help in a crisis situation. Today, this method comes to the fore among other psychotherapeutic methods.

What is cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy?

This trend was formed in the United States under the influence of the work of Albert Ellis and Aaron Beck. Cognitive behavioral psychotherapy is based on the premise that negative experiences are based on dysfunctional attitudes and beliefs. Since behavioral methods are widely used in practical work with clients, the direction received its present name.

Cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy works well for depression, anxiety disorders, phobias, a variety of personal needs, irrational thoughts, irritability, tearfulness, and many other troubling problems.

The main features of CBT:

relatively short term;
relatively effective;
prevents the recurrence of symptoms;
contributes to the solution of specific, practical problems;
improves mood and quality of life;
upon termination of therapy, the client, as a rule, is able to help himself without a psychotherapist;
applies, as a rule, to adults, but it is also possible for children over 8 years old.

CBT Therapy Without a Therapist

My Canadian Pharmacy encourages the patient to actively practice CBT skills at home. The goal of home therapy is to help an unhappy client find an alternative, think in a new way, take responsibility for his thoughts, condition, behavior. CBT-based self-help is based on a number of techniques:

Tracking and recording negative irrational thoughts, attitudes, when you need to take an important action. The patient writes out thoughts that come during the decision in order of priority;
Keeping a diary (CBT thought record). During the day, thoughts are recorded that often occur in the patient. The diary helps to track the thoughts affecting well-being;
Catharsis. If the patient is sad and does not accept himself, he can express sadness, for example, by crying;
Imagination. If the patient is afraid or not confident in his abilities in order to perform the action, he can imagine and try;
The method of three columns. The patient writes in the columns: situation-negative thought-corrective (positive) thought. The technique is useful for learning how to replace a negative thought with a positive one;
Record the events of the day. The patient may think that people are aggressive towards him. In this case, he should keep a list of observations, where he puts the “+” “-” during the day with each interaction with people.