​A little Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

​A little Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

​“Good morning is not a greeting; it’s a decision.” –Anonymous

CBT is another simple but very powerful tool for your emotional resilience toolbox. It helps you to recognise that your thoughts, feelings, physical sensations and actions are all interconnected. 

​Simply put, CBT combines cognitive therapy (examining the things you think) and behaviour therapy (examining the things you do)...

​As you may well know, negative thoughts and feelings can often trap you in a vicious cycle.
Just in our previous blog, E+R=O (event + response = outcome), CBT emphasises that it is not the situation that causes the emotional distress, it’s our interpretation of the event or situation which causes the anxiety, worry or anger. It works by recognising our negative thought patterns and encourages us to challenge them, as well as learning how to change unhelpful behaviours such as avoidance.

Sue has a chance of a promotion. Part of her new role will involve public speaking, something that terrifies her. Her thoughts, emotions, physical symptoms and behaviours are all influenced by each other. She thinks that she will make a fool of herself and that everyone will think she’s stupid. Her heart beats faster, and she has a cold sweat just thinking about it. Because of this, she doesn’t go for the promotion. She uses the excuse that it will be too much pressure and that she is happy where she is. Knowing that these are just excuses causes Sue to feel even more anxious and embarrassed, and strengthens her negative thoughts about herself. 

Jan has a chance of a promotion. Part of her new role will involve public speaking, something that terrifies her. Her thoughts, emotions, physical symptoms and behaviours are all influenced by each other. She thinks that she will make a fool of herself and that everyone will think she’s stupid. Her heart beats faster, and she has a cold sweat just thinking about it. Because she really wants the promotion, she knows she must find a way to overcome this. She researches courses on public speaking and finds the perfect course at her local college.  She explores hypnotherapy and EFT as ways of handling her nerves. She looks for opportunities to speak up. She starts to be more vocal in team meetings. Every time she does this, her confidence grows. She goes for the promotion, knowing that if other people can overcome their fear of public speaking, then so can she. She feels good about herself. She is proud of herself for getting outside her comfort zone.  

Jan used a CBT model called Graded Exposure. Rather than jumping in with her first public speaking engagement and frightening the living daylights out of herself, she gradually increased her exposure to her fear, by speaking up in team meetings. Baby steps. That’s all we need to take.

To learn how CBT can help you, please click here