Triggers & Desensitization

This information below I found extremely helpful with learning and dealing with my triggers of the past abuse. I hope the people that are reading this find this information help.

(I will apologize because I do not know where I gathered this information. I had it saved for a very long time and don't know where I received this info. If anyone knows could you please let me know so I can add their name to this page? Thank you.)

This is something that I came across a long time ago and found it very helpful with my triggers and dealing with PTSD. I hope this information is helpful for you and dealing with your triggers. (I will apologize for not putting a name of the site that provided this information, I can't recall who it was...so if anyone does please email me and let me know, thanks.)

"Throughout the course of a day your senses and perceptions take in an enormous amount of data which they correlate and then translate into reactions. These reactions may be in the form of thoughts, words, actions, or beliefs. Every reaction an individual has is totally based on past experience or experiences that the individual's mind correlate as being as close to the current situation as possible. Reactions can change as the focus of the individual's thoughts and concerns change. As an individual recovers their abusive history, their focus is changed and subsequently their reactions are also changed.

Triggers are words, symbols, situations, items, sounds, smells, colours just about anything that the mind correlates to a negative past experience and causes a reaction based on it. As an individual's focus changes, things that once did not cause them to react, now do. However, the reverse is also true. As the individual comprehends these triggers and integrates a new meaning of them into their perceptions OF THEIR OWN CHOOSING, then what was once a trigger is no longer. It is a simple as that, however, the practicing can take some time, dedication and determination on the part of the survivor. Even triggers that are part of a programmed response for a survivor are defused under essentially the same principle.

Part of what makes dealing with triggers so difficult is in determining what the trigger is exactly. Some survivors hace a delayed reaction to some triggers. Triggers can also be cumulative in nature. For instance, a survivor encounters three distinct or dominant sounds over a two day period that exactly match the sounds experienced from the past. No reponse or even cognitive recognition may occur for the first two sounds, but at the third one, the survivor has a distinct reaction. It is difficult for the survivor to retrieve the first two sounds and may therefore not connect that the third sound was the final part of the trigger, especially if there were many other things occurring at the same instant that the third sound went off. The survivor may be looking to one of those rather than at the sound. For instance the third sound may have been a buzzer on the microwave or alarm clock, which the survivor hears on a regular basis without any negative reaction at all. But, that same buzzer in connection with two other preceding sounds made the cumulative stimuli into a trigger creating a notable reaction.

In order for a survivor to begin determining what is triggering them, they must listen to their body sensations and responses. Even at the first sound the survivor might have felt their stomach tighten, felt a brief moment of switching (as their mind was logging the sound) or felt a flash of emotion (such as anxiety or fear). It may have lasted only for a second but because the survivor did not note or recognize what their body was trying to tell them, the event passed without being dealt with....a survivor, multiple or not, never thinks says or does or believes ANYTHING without a reason. It does not matter the degree, type or longevity of the abuse survived, just any survivor. That makes up the majority of humans living on the face of the earth. If a survivor will listen to their body realizing that there IS a reason why it is doing or feeling what it is, then they can begin the process of desensitization and deprogramming. It is the first and most crucial step in both processes.

Look at how much time you, as a survivor, multiple or not, spend on your own practicing new coping skills and mechanisms or how much time you spend getting in touch with your body that your level of committment begins to show.

Take a few minutes to write beside each of the following things in this list how much time per week you spend on them. It does no good to deceive yourself or increase the true amount. It is time to get honest with yourself about your survival. Do not answer on a 'per average week' basis. How much time did you spend LAST WEEK on the following things. You may find it helpful to keep a running track from week to week so taht you are allotting the time that is required to effectively meet the responsibilites to yourself and your survival.

How Much Time Did You Spend This Week On:

 

1. Learning a totally new coping skill? ______________
2. Practising a totally new coping skill? ______________
3. Getting in touch with your body
sensations through massage or other
means? ______________
4. Being consciously aware of your body
signals? ______________
5. Learning about your current coping
skills? ______________
6. Preparing, through various types of
journalling or mapping, for your next
therapy session? ______________
7. Discovering why, what, and who inside
your Unit/system reacted to a certain
situation in a certain way? ______________
8. Why you were feeling depressed, angry
or any other feeling(s) in a specific
situation, past or present? ______________
9. Letting your various child components
(if multiple) or inner child side
(if non-multiple) out to do something
they wanted to do? ______________
10. Direct open-minded communication with
your child components or inner child
side? ______________
11. Direct interaction with your child
components or your inner child side?
(The adult being with the children or
adult side with the child inside,
playing, singing, or doing a project
TOGETHER? ______________
12. Giving yourself and/or your components
positive affirmations and/or comments? ______________
13. Giving yourself and/or your components
positive reinforcement by looking at a
situation that might have been
difficult or negative and looking for
the good or positive? _______________

If your answer is you didn't have time, take a look for a moment at how much time you spent in a state of crisis or dysfunction. Taking a little extra time to work on the things in the list above will reduce the amount of time you spend in crisis and dysfunction...The degree to which you take responsibility and make conscious choices is the degree to which your life will by yours again.

Once you start listening to your body you will start unravelling the 'trigger mystery'. Then what? In some cases, simply recognizing what the trigger was taht caused a certain response, then discovering what past experience or experiences the trigger(s) is correlating to, will release the significance. I call it association defusing. Associating A: the trigger + B: the experience = C: realization and defusion of the trigger. This is especially true of non-programmed trigger reponses. For the majority of survivors, association with perhaps a little therapy around the recalled experience will end the significance and power of the trigger(s).

There is no set group of triggers that are universal to all or the majority of survivors, programmed or not. Triggers can also be calender dates, celestial conditions and/or major holidays. Survivors need to be especially careful that they do not set up (consciously or unconsciously) a response to a trigger because they learn that other survivors with seemingly similar histories or stories, react to that trigger. Reaction to a predisclosed trigger DOES NOT validate your memories. Nor does the way in which you react validate your memories. You must validate your own memories and experiences.

For programmed survivors (survivors who hae been purposefully and methodically conditioned to repond in a specific way to a specific trigger) the solution is a little more complex and time consuming. Trigger responses of a programmed nature have a sequential life of their own. They have a pattern and a chain of psychological and/or physiological reactions that take place. The survivor must unravel not only A: what the trigger is, B: what the experience(s) is, but also C: what the instructions were, D: who gave the instructions [if not name of individual then the perceived significance of the individual or voice] E: what were the ramifications, either realized or perceived, to not giving the proper reaction, all before the survivor can fully comprehend how it equals to F: the trigger response.

I do not recommend that a programmed survivor attempt to go through this process without the assistance of a trained and qualified therapist. It is extremely easy to lose touch with reality as a programmed survivor and in many cases, you can be actually reinforcing the programming rather than defusing or at least disarming it.

In order to totally defuse the trigger response a survivor must complete the aforementioned equational steps, however, the survivor can begin desensitization to the trigger which will disarm it temporarily while working on defusing. It is important that you do not leave a programmed trigger in the disarmed state. If a cult perpetrator wished to reactivate a programmed trigger response that has only been disarmed it is a relatively simple procedure. Just because a survivor no longer reacts to a trigger does not necessarily imply that they have discovered and are cognizant of why it triggered then in the first place.

Desensitization

Desensitization involves establishing a new more desirable conditioned response to a trigger. In other words, changing the old trigger to a new one. As you can see, it does not mean that the survivor no longer responds to the trigger. What it does mean is that they respond in a different and hopefully more positive and productive way of their own choosing. I caution survivors to take an active role in determining what that new response should be. Only you can determine if it is actually more positive and productive internally.

Desensitization typically takes the form of subjecting the survivor to a known trigger in a controlled, supportive environment in longer and longer periods of time until they are able to respond with the new, preestablished response. Then they are exposed to the trigger under less controlled circumstances with the survivor's normal environment while still accompanied by a support person until they are able to respond with the new response. The final step is to have the survivor experience the trigger under normal circumstances with a normal environmental setting until they can respond with the new response. The final step is to have the survivor experience the trigger under normal circumstances within a normal circumstances within a normal setting until they are able to repond with the new response. When they are capable of doing the final step, they should be able to encounter the trigger in any situation and use the new response that has been made instinctual by the above outlined process. This is the technique of many phobia experts. It can be a rather long and drawn out process depending upon the determination of the survivor to change the trigger response and how ingrained or habitual the old trigger has become.

There are no true shortcuts for successful desensitization. Many therapists and survivors skip steps here and there or stop after the first time the new response is used.

Other trigger responses, usually programmed, that could require initial desensitization are self-mutilative acts, suicidal acts, homicidal acts, reporting a person to a cult programmer or perpetrator, sexual acts, eating habits and so forth".

Self-Care & Self-Help Following A Disaster

This is wonderful information taken from the NCPTSD website their link is under my favorite links.

 

A National Center for PTSD Fact Sheet

The emotional effects of the recent terrorist attacks will be felt by people everywhere: victims, bereaved family members, friends, rescue workers, emergency medical care providers, mental-health care providers, witnesses to the event, volunteers, members of the media, and citizens of the community, the country, and the world. Those who were at the scene and those who have lost loved ones will almost certainly have strong reactions. People who saw or heard about the attacks on TV may also have strong reactions.

Common reactions to traumatic events like the terrorist attack include feeling afraid, sad, horrified, helpless, angry, overwhelmed, confused, distracted, emotionally numb, or disoriented. People may also be bothered by nightmares or upsetting thoughts and images that come to mind. Young children may be upset, distracted, or feel out of sorts. These are normal reactions to very stressful events. With the help of family and friends, most people gradually feel better as time goes by.

What can people do to cope?

Spend time with other people. Coping with stressful events is easier when people support each other.
If it helps, talk about how you are feeling. Be willing to listen to others who need to talk about how they feel.
Get back to your everyday routines. Familiar habits can be very comforting.
Take time to grieve and cry if you need to. To feel better in the long run, you need to let these feelings out instead of pushing them away or hiding them.
Ask for support and help from your family, friends, church, or other community resources. Join or develop support groups.
Set small goals to tackle big problems. Take one thing at a time instead of trying to do everything at once.
Eat healthy food and take time to walk, stretch, exercise, and relax, even if just for a few minutes at a time.
Make sure you get enough rest and sleep. People often need more sleep than usual when they are very stressed.
Do something that just feels good to you like taking a warm bath, taking a walk, sitting in the sun, or petting your cat or dog.
If you are trying to do too much, try to cut back by putting off or giving up a few things that are not absolutely necessary.
Find something positive you can do. Give blood. Donate money to help victims of the attack. Join efforts in your community to respond to this tragedy.
Get away from the stress of the event sometimes. Turn off the TV news reports and distract yourself by doing something you enjoy.

What can adults do to help children cope?

Let them know you understand their feelings.
Tell them that they really are safe.
Keep to your usual routines.
Keep them from seeing too many frightening pictures of the events.
Educate yourself about how to talk to children of different ages about trauma.

When should a person seek more help?

Sometimes people need extra help to deal with a traumatic event. People directly affected by this tragedy, young children, people who have been through other traumatic events, and people with emotional problems are more likely to need professional help. A person may need extra help coping if a month after the attack he or she:

Still feels very upset or fearful most of the time
Acts very differently compared to before the trauma
Can't work or take care of kids or home
Has important relationships that are continuing to get worse
Uses drugs or drinks too much
Feels jumpy or has nightmares a lot
Still can't stop thinking about the attack
Still can't enjoy life at all
Where can one go to get help?

Listed beloware some ways to find help. When you call, tell whomever you speak to that you are trying to find a mental-health provider who specializes in helping people who have been through traumatic events and/or who have lost loved ones. Check this website regularly for updated information on how to get help. We will be listing more ways to get help as they become available.

For non-veterans

Some local mental-health services are listed in the phone book in the blue Government pages. In the "County Government Offices" section for the county where you live, look for a "Health Services (Dept. of)" or "Department of Health Services" section. In that section, look for listings under "Mental Health." In the yellow pages, services and mental-health professionals are listed under "counseling," "psychologists," "social workers," "psychotherapists," "social and human services," or "mental health." Health insurance may pay for mental-health services and some are available at low cost according to your ability to pay.

For anyone

Call your doctor's office or ask friends if they can recommend any mental-health providers.

If you work for a large company or organization, call the Human Resources or Personnel office to find out if they provide mental-health services or make referrals.

If you are a member of a Health Maintenance Organization (HMO), call to find out if mental-health services are available.

Call the National Center for Victims of Crime's toll-free information and referral service at 1-800-FYI-CALL. This is a comprehensive database of more than 6,700 community service agencies throughout the country that directly support victims of crime.

 

Grounding Techniques

This information on grounding techniques provided from dreamstalker. This information as extremely helpful with understanding flashbacks.

Grounding Techniques

Sensory Awareness Grounding Skills

Keep your eyes open, look around the room, notice your surroundings, notice details.

Hold a pillow, stuffed animal or a bell.

Place a cool cloth on your face, or hold something cool such as a can of soda.
Listen to soothing music.

Put your feet firmly on the ground.

FOCUS on someone's voice or a neutral conversation.

Cognitive Grounding Skills

Reorient yourself in place and time by asking yourself some or all of these questions:

Where am I?
What is today?
What is the date?
What is the month?
What is the year?
How old am I?
What season is it?
Who is the President?
List as many Grounding skills as you can.
Practice several grounding skills every day.

Construct a list of those which are most helpful and effective.

Goals When Using Grounding Techniques

To keep myself safe and free from injury. To reorient myself to reality and the here and now.
To identify what I attempted to do to prevent the dissociative experience.
To identify skills that I can use in the future to help myself remain grounded.

Goals Prior To Using Grounding Techniques

Learn as much as I can about dissociation, grounding techniques and triggers.
(What are the triggers that usually signal that I am about to dissociate?)
Practice, practice, practice, my grounding skills when I am in a stable, comfortable space so that I am prepared when I need them.
Make a list of the grounding techniques that work best for me and put it where I can easily refer to it when necessary.

Defense Mechanisms

This information is provided by Mental Help Net, fantastic resources, this is greating information.

 

We go through many, many changes as we move from infancy through childhood to adulthood. The one that came to mind for me the other day as I was holding a friend's new born baby in my arms and thinking about the psychological distance between his infant mind and my own, was a consciousness of all the personality defenses and coping strategies we learn while growing up; how important these things are for keeping us safe from the more predatory elements of our world, but also the openness we can lose as these defenses get built.

Personality defenses (coping techniques, defense mechanisms) are important things in that they strongly influence the ease with which people are able to form and maintain healthy relationships and reject unhealthy relationships. Developing organically in response to frustrating, difficult and painful situations and experiences, they function as the human equivalent of a computer firewall, helping to defend against hurtful and abusive relationships, while hopefully also allowing healthy and nurturing relationships to pass. Discriminating when to be defensive and when not to be defensive is key for health. You need defense to keep you safe from those who would mess with you, but you also need to know when to relax and let your defenses down so as to retain the capability for innocence, openness and healthy relationships. Defenses are important, an immune system unto themselves. They're worth spending an essay talking about.


Mapping the world and the self

Becoming defensive is all about learning to identify and avoid painful and dangerous situations. We are born mostly open and undefended. We learn to avoid painful and dangerous situations by learning to map or represent (in our heads, not on paper) the world and where the dangerous, painful things exist in the world. We start doing this even as very young children and continue it with ever increasing sophistication as we mature. As our representation of the world becomes more sophisticated, our ability to control, tolerate or avoid pain also becomes similarly sophisticated.

The first pains we become aware of are internal - having to do with instinctual drives such as hunger, elimination and emotion. These drives create tensions in our infant bodies that over time we learn to represent and react to. For example, we instinctually cry when we are hungry but probably can't initially distinguish the pain of hunger from other pains. Over time we learn to recognize and represent hunger pains as a distinct sort of painful signal that can be avoided by eating. More time goes by and we learn to request food, thereby cutting hunger pains off before they become compelling. This sort of self-knowledge and control is easy for adults, but it is a major learning project for infants and toddlers.

In addition to mapping our internal environment, we also start mapping our external social environment. We learn, for instance, that our initial infant-centric map of the world (“It's all about me”) doesn't predict what other people will do with great accuracy. In response, we develop a social map of the people we are in relationships with and what they are likely to do for us. Our social map helps us to avoid people who are likely to hurt us and approach people who are likely to help us. As before, most adults can make this discrimination more or less easily, but children take years to properly master such discrimination.

The degree to which representation or mapping of the self and the social world takes place is always in relationship with a person's developmental level. Infants and young children (who are not very developed, physically or mentally) have representations of the self and of others that are more primitive, while older children and adults tend to have more sophisticated self and other representations. A person's developmental level is influenced both by biology and by experience. Children act in childlike ways both because they are inexperienced, and because their brains are literally immature and not fully physically developed. The biological aspects of children's brain development work themselves out by the teen years, and thereafter (assuming everything else has gone well), further development and maturity is mostly a function of experience and personality. Not everyone is able to benefit from experience, however. Most everyone has probably met someone chronologically adult who functions to one degree or another in an immature, child-like and primitive way.

Self-Talk & Affirmations

"I shouldn't have eaten that chocolate cake! I'm so stupid. I'm just a hopeless case. My family stresses me out and undermines my self-control. I'll never get down to a size 10. I should just give up! "

Do you ever say things like this to yourself? This kind of thinking is called "negative self-talk." It sounds pretty dismal, doesn't it? Let's play the conversation again, this time with positive self-talk.

"I wish I hadn't eaten that chocolate cake! It wasn't a good choice, and I'm smart enough to make good choices. Looking back, I realize I wasn't hungry. I was stressed, and I was only wanting to calm down. So how can I calm down in a healthy, positive way? I'm determined to get to size 10, and mistakes are just part of the learning process."

Which is going to give you more motivation to maintain healthy habits---negative or positive self-talk? Self-talk is internal dialog---the words we use when we talk to ourselves. According to psychologist Dr. Shad Helmstetter, our self-talk reflects and creates our emotional states. You can feel calm or worried, depending on what you tell yourself. Your self-talk can influence your self-esteem, outlook, energy level, performance, and relationships with others. It can even affect your health, determining, for example, how you handle stressful events, or how easily you replace unhealthy behaviors with healthy ones.

You can change your negative self-talk with awareness and practice. This article teaches you how to recognize negative self-talk, and how to develop the habit of positive self-talk. Below are some types of negative self-talk, paired with positive alternatives.

Replace the Negative with the Positive

Blaming: We assign guilt, instead of solving the problem. If we can blame others, then we can feel vindicated in a wrong-doing, and avoid responsibility. Instead: Focus on what YOU can do to promote a solution to the prob

Focusing only on problems: This is the essence of complaining. We dwell on the problem, instead of solutions. Instead: Assume most problems have solutions, and ask "How do I want this situation to be different?"

Catastrophizing: Every bad thing that happens is a horrible disaster. Instead: Be realistic in your assessment and stop scaring yourself. Yes, bad things do happen, and many bad things are often inconveniences, mistakes, and foul-ups---not necessarily traumas, tragedies, or disasters.

Expecting the worst: "What if he doesn't like me?" "What if I don't pass the exam?" Expecting the worst does not encourage you to behave effectively. Expecting the worst only promotes anxiety. Instead: Ask questions that presuppose positive outcomes. "How can I make a favorable impression?" "How can I prepare for the exam?"

Stereotyping: By putting others, and ourselves, into preconceived categories, we avoid thinking of people as unique individuals. This leads to strained relationships, and gives us an undeserved sense of superiority or inferiority. It also often deprives us of opportunities to know and understand the giftedness of those whom we stereotype. Instead: Remind yourself that we are all human beings, with unique personalities, each having qualities and shortcomings.

Shoulds: Should, ought, must, have to... used carelessly, these words presuppose rules and standards for behavior that do not exist in reality. They imply a consequence for noncompliance, and often evoke quilt. For example, according to the law, we "should" obey posted speed limits, or pay a fine. Is it equally true that "I should be smarter than I am." or "I ought to be married by now."?--Of course not! Instead: Replace the words should, ought, or must with the word "COULD" and realize the gift of choices.

Thinking in Absolutes: We exaggerate reality with words like "always," "never," and "everyone," as in "I always eat too much--I will never be slim." Instead: Replace exaggeration with words that more accurately reflect reality. Example "I often eat more than I need, but I can change that."

All or Nothing Thinking: We distort reality by thinking only in extremes. Our efforts become total failures or complete successes---with nothing in between. Example: "Either I lose two pounds by Sunday, or I quit exercising." Instead: Chunk down your perceptions to see the parts of the whole, which can be positive, negative, and in-between. Give yourself options or choices whenever possible. Example: "I want to lose two pounds by Sunday. Even one pound would indicate that exercise is helping. If my weight stays the same, I'll experiment with variations in nutrition and exercise until I reach my goal."

Negative labels: Negative labels are the tools we use to lower self-esteem in ourselves and others. Example: "I'm stupid," or "I'm fat." When we say phrases like these often, they become a part of our identity and we can begin to dislike who we are. Instead: Remember, people are not their faults or shortcomings. You may engage in stupid behavior occasionally, but that doesn't make you a stupid person. Change your negative "I-am" statement into a statement about behaviors. Example: "I make unhealthy choices when it comes to food." It's easier to change a behavior, than to change your identity.

lem.

"Yes but..." Arguments: When someone offers a possible solution to our problems, we "yes but..." and list reasons why the proposed solution won't work. "Yes but..." says "I'm really not listening to you right now." Instead: Open up to new possibilities and consider alternatives. Really listen to advice and give it a fair hearing, before dismissing it so quickly.

Overgeneralizing: This is similar to stereotyping and thinking in absolutes. It means that we take a single instance or occurrence, and generalize it to numerous other situations. Example: "Joe is a nice man, and he doesn't want to date me. Therefore: No nice man will ever want to date me." When misused, this kind of generalizing can lead to illogical conclusions. Instead: Ask yourself whether there could be exceptions to your generalization. Does a single occurrence mean it will happen every time?

Now you know what negative self-talk sounds like. Negative self-talk is usually a mixture of half-truths, poor logic, and distortions of reality that perpetuates negative emotions, such as pessimism, guilt, fear, and anxiety. It often occurs when in times of emotional turmoil, or when we are going through stress or a personal transition.

When you catch your negative self-talk, take a deep breath, relax, and remove yourself from the situation. Get up and stretch, or take a walk, or get a drink of water, in order to interrupt your train of thought and get out of the negative rut. Write down some of your negative thoughts and then ask yourself "Are the things I'm saying true? Are there other possibilities and meanings that I could get from these circumstances?" Then replace your negative thoughts with realistic, positive thoughts---and write those down too. Soon you'll stop that self-talk in mid-sentence. If you have difficulty changing your self-talk, you may have clinical depression, and a psychotherapist could help you.

Affirmations

One way to reprogram your self-talk is by repeating positive affirmations until you begin to get a good sense of what positive thinking really sounds like. After all, much self-talk is actually negative affirmations. Our emotions, perceptions, and behaviors are shaped by our most dominant thoughts. Advocates of affirmations theorize that our frequent thoughts represent goals which the subconscious mind strives to actualize. What we most often tell ourselves can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you want to explore the power of positive affirmations, follow these guidelines.

Personalize your affirmations with with words like "I," "me," and "my." You can't always control circumstances or other people, so make your affirmations about what you can control---yourself. Make your affirmations state your own goals, wants, and values---not someone else's.
Some authors say affirmations are best stated in the present tense, because, if affirmations are in future tense ("I will...") your subconscious mind feels no urgency to act NOW. If you feel hypocritical stating affirmations in the present tense (as in "I am slender and healthy") then state your affirmations as a process (as in "Each day I am become more slender and healthier.")
Make your affirmations believable and realistic so that you can say them with sincerity. Begin with small, easily achievable goals, and work your way up to bigger accomplishments. "My self control is perfect." is probably more believable as "I have self-control most of the time."
State affirmations in the positive. To say "I don't eat fatty foods," only focuses your attention on the behavior you want to avoid. Instead say "I eat nutritious foods."

Make affirmations short and easy to remember. Catchy slogans stay with us longer than essays.
Repeat your positive affirmations often and positive thinking will become routine.
To maintain positive self-talk, fill your mind with uplifting ideas. Recognize your strengths. Comfort yourself when things go wrong. Let your self-talk be like the soothing, supportive words of a counselor, friend, or mentor. As you improve your self-talk, commit to changing your actions accordingly. Lasting accomplishments come when we change our behaviors as well as our thinking. 

12 Self-help Suggestions for Coping with Trauma.

Here are 12 great self-help suggestion for coping with trauma: By Dr. Debra Moore.

 

Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT)

This information was from the website: http://www.cognitivetherapy.com/basics.html

Cognitive behavior therapy is a clinically and research proven breakthrough in mental health care. Hundreds of studies by research psychologists and psychiatrists make it clear why CBT has become the preferred treatment for conditions such as these . . .

Depression and mood swings
Shyness and social anxiety
Panic attacks and phobias
Obsessions and compulsions (OCD and related conditions)
Chronic anxiety or worry
Post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSD and related conditions)
Eating disorders (anorexia and bulimia) and obesity
Insomnia and other sleep problems
Difficulty establishing or staying in relationships
Problems with marriage or other relationships you're already in
Job, career or school difficulties
Feeling “stressed out”
Insufficient self-esteem (accepting or respecting yourself)
Inadequate coping skills, or ill-chosen methods of coping
Passivity, procrastination and “passive aggression”
Substance abuse, co-dependency and “enabling”
Trouble keeping feelings such as anger, sadness, fear, guilt, shame, eagerness, excitement, etc., within bounds
Over-inhibition of feelings or expression

Just what is CBT? How does it work?

Cognitive behavior therapy* combines two very effective kinds of psychotherapy — cognitive therapy and behavior therapy.

Behavior therapy helps you weaken the connections between troublesome situations and your habitual reactions to them. Reactions such as fear, depression or rage, and self-defeating or self-damaging behavior. It also teaches you how to calm your mind and body, so you can feel better, think more clearly, and make better decisions.

Cognitive therapy teaches you how certain thinking patterns are causing your symptoms — by giving you a distorted picture of what's going on in your life, and making you feel anxious, depressed or angry for no good reason, or provoking you into ill-chosen actions.

When combined into CBT, behavior therapy and cognitive therapy provide you with very powerful tools for stopping your symptoms and getting your life on a more satisfying track.

CBT is active therapy

In CBT, your therapist takes an active part in solving your problems. He or she doesn't settle for just nodding wisely while you carry the whole burden of finding the answers you came to therapy for.

You will receive a thorough diagnostic workup at the beginning of treatment — to make sure your needs and problems have been pinpointed as well as possible.

This crucial step — which is often skimped or omitted altogether in traditional kinds of therapy — results in an explicit, understandable, and flexible treatment plan that accurately reflects your own individual needs.

In many ways CBT resembles education, coaching or tutoring. Under expert guidance, as a CBT client you will share in setting treatment goals and in deciding which techniques work best for you personally.

Structured and focused

CBT provides clear structure and focus to treatment. Unlike therapies that easily drift off into interesting but unproductive side trips, CBT sticks to the point and changes course only when there are sound reasons for doing so.