HERE ARE SOME OF THE FEATURES THAT MAKE
COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL THERAPY (CBT) UNIQUE:
1. Cognitive behavioral therapy is the first line treatment recommended by many of the American Psychiatric Association's current practice guidelines.
2. There is strong evidence that cognitive behavioral therapy actually works. - There are currently dozens of clinical trials supporting CBT's efficacy. In these studies, 10-16 weeks of CBT has been compared to medications, placebo, and no treatment.
For depression and anxiety disorders, CBT has proven to be better than placebo, has shown itself to be as effective as medications, and the benefits have been proven to last for up to 5 years. CBT is the most studied form of psychotherapy that currently exists.
3. Cognitive behavioral therapy doesn't focus very much on childhood. - Instead, the emphasis is placed on how to change right now.
4. Cognitive behavioral therapy is based on a set of techniques that are very "action" oriented. - In Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, you are asked to DO things every week to help produce change.
Click on my CBT Techniques page to read a description of the techniques we use.
5. A typical course of cognitive behavioral therapy
takes 10-16 weeks. - This is in contrast to other forms of therapy (i.e. Psychodynamic, Jungian, Freudian) which are conceptualized to take several years to complete. The reason that cognitive behavioral therapy is so much shorter is because it relies so heavily on techniques and on taking action, and because all of the techniques are taught in a "self help" manner so that patients can continue to treat themselves long after the therapy has finished.