CBT teaches how we can break out of those default patterns to become more resilient in situations we may find uncomfortable or stressful by identifying where we respond negatively and then challenging those negative thoughts with alternative, positive ones.
Primarily good for tackling anxiety, stress and depression, it’s a way to rewire the software of your brain, rehearsing troubling situations in your mind in order to create alternative ways of thinking when that situation arises again. In effect you’re creating new mental circuitry by challenging and changing old responses that feel hardwired in, but aren’t.
It’s a very practical form of therapy, which is usually relatively short-term. In effect it helps you become your own therapist, where you use the skills you have learned.
CBT tends to lend itself better to slightly older children and is well suited to help teenagers and young people. By taking (what can feel like) insurmountable tasks and teaching you how to apply a pragmatic and objective viewpoint to these issues, CBT gradually changes the way you look at everyday challenges.
CBT will give your teen techniques which will transform them from feeling like a victim, into someone who can control the way they respond, giving them transferable skills to take into their adulthood.