Is there a structure to CBT?
highly structured – rather than talking freely about your life, you and your therapist discuss specific problems and set goals for you to achieve. focused on current problems – it’s mainly concerned with how you think and act now rather than attempting to resolve past issues. Don’t Tell Lies Or Half-Truths That can make it feel even harder when speaking with a mental health professional you’ve just met. If your therapist asks about something that’s difficult for you to discuss, you may resist telling the truth or fail to offer up the details of the situation. Socratic questioning involves therapists asking a series of graded questions to guide patient behavior and thought processes toward therapeutic goals. If CBT is working for you, you should notice explicit behavioral changes (i.e., the ability to approach situations that you feared or to function better when depressed). With your therapist, take time to reflect on your treatment goals and discuss the progress being made. There are many different strategies used in cognitive behaviour therapy, such as journaling, role-playing, relaxation techniques, and mental distraction. Journaling is one self-care method counselors can recommend to their clients. Clients can use this tool on their own and incorporate these entries into a therapy session. Counselors refer to journaling in therapy as writing therapy, journal therapy or expressive art therapy.