Why Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is So Successful in Managing Anxiety

Anxiety is the No. 1 mental health disorder in the United States. An estimated 40 million American adults experience anxiety each year, and if you’re one of those millions, the effect it has on your life can be profound.

Anxiety disorder puts your body on high alert. It makes you feel uneasy, nervous, or worried that something bad will happen, even if there’s no real threat. Suffering from anxiety might make it seem as if your thoughts are out of your control, but it’s important to recognize that help is available and anxiety is treatable.

One of the best methods of addressing anxiety is cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, a proven treatment that helps people manage anxiety. CBT could help you start feeling better in as few as eight sessions.

At Himalaya Family Medicine Clinic, our psychotherapist offers CBT for anxiety. If you think you might have anxiety, it’s time to learn why CBT is so successful in managing this common condition.

Recognizing the signs of anxiety

Anxiety is a feeling of nervousness or worry. While occasional anxiety is a normal part of life, anxiety disorder is characterized by frequent, persistent, or particularly intense worry about everyday occurrences.

Having anxiety can interfere with your daily life. The causes and symptoms of anxiety vary from person to person. However, there are a few symptoms that are particularly common. You may have anxiety if you experience:

Feeling nervous or tense often
Difficulty concentrating
Difficulty controlling a worry or troublesome thought
Fatigue
Increased heart rate
Panic attacks
Rapid breathing
Sense of impending doom
Trouble sleeping

In general, anxiety disorder makes you feel worry and fear that’s out of proportion to the actual situation you’re experiencing. If these symptoms sound familiar to you, CBT could help you feel better.

How cognitive behavioral therapy works for anxiety

CBT is a structured approach to talk therapy that’s based on one main idea: your thoughts determine your feelings and behaviors. It’s an effective treatment option for anxiety because it teaches you how your thoughts are connected to the way you feel. It helps you to identify problematic thoughts that trigger anxiety and change the way you perceive them.

1. Identify problematic or negative thoughts

In CBT, our psychotherapist guides you through a process to better understand your thoughts. We help you find and identify thought patterns that increase your anxiety and give you tools to identify those thoughts as they occur in your life.

2. Evaluate those negative thoughts

Once negative thoughts and worries are identified, you can evaluate them. Simply having a thought doesn’t automatically make it true, and CBT helps you challenge the validity of your thoughts. We help you learn how to use critical thinking skills to challenge your thoughts and compare them with facts you know are true.

3. Reframe your thoughts moving forward

Finally, CBT gives you tools to change your thoughts and thinking patterns to better match reality. Identifying and dismantling negative thoughts helps you regain power over your own mind. You have the ability to rationalize the thoughts that are giving you anxiety and move past them to focus on other things in your life.

CBT is a therapeutic technique that’s flexible for people of all ages and in all walks of life. Our team at Himalaya Family Medicine Clinic takes the time to understand your unique symptoms and needs, and then we work with you to develop a treatment approach to improve your quality of life.

Ready to take the next step in managing your anxiety? Schedule a consultation at Himalaya Family Medicine Clinic online or call our office at 303-351-1800 today.