Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a widely used and evidence-based form of psychotherapy that focuses on the interconnection between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Developed in the 1960s by Dr. Aaron Beck, CBT has since become one of the most researched and effective treatments for a wide range of mental health issues and behavioral problems.
At its core, CBT is based on the idea that our thoughts and interpretations of events significantly influence our emotional responses and behaviors. By identifying and modifying dysfunctional thought patterns and behaviors, individuals can achieve significant improvements in their mental health and overall well-being.
This may be a good fit if…
- ✓You notice the same thought pattern running over and over
- ✓Your mood follows your interpretation of events more than the events themselves
- ✓You want homework, structure, and a measurable target
- ✓Avoidance has quietly narrowed your life
- ✓You would rather learn a skill you keep than rely on being in therapy indefinitely
Key benefits
You leave with tools, not just insight
CBT is explicitly a skills training. Thought records, behavioural experiments, activity scheduling, and exposure hierarchies are things you practise between sessions and keep afterwards. The aim is that you can run the protocol on yourself when a new problem turns up.
It is time-limited on purpose
A typical course is twelve to twenty sessions. That is not a budget constraint, it is the design: a clear target, a measurable change, and an agreed end point. Many clients come back for a short top-up later rather than staying in weekly therapy for years.
The most studied therapy there is
CBT has more randomised controlled trials behind it than any other psychotherapy, across depression, anxiety disorders, insomnia, OCD, and eating disorders. When a treatment guideline names a first-line psychotherapy, it is usually this one.
It translates well to telehealth
Worksheets, thought records, and shared screens work as well over video as in a room, and having the therapist visit your actual environment on camera can make behavioural work easier rather than harder.
How CBT works
The CBT Triangle
Thoughts, feelings, and behaviors influence each other. Change one and the others shift.
Thoughts
‘I'm going to embarrass myself.’
Feelings
Anxiety, dread, racing heart.
Behaviors
Avoid the meeting, cancel plans.
CBT interrupts the loop at any corner, most often by testing the thought.
A CBT Thought Record
The core CBT exercise: catch the thought, weigh it against the evidence, and write a fairer one.
- 1
Situation
A meeting where I have to present.
- 2
Automatic thought
"Everyone will see I have no idea what I am doing."
- 3
Evidence
For: I stumbled once last year. Against: I prepared, and past talks went fine.
- 4
Balanced thought
"I might be nervous, and I know this material."
How we run CBT at Crown Counseling
The first two sessions are assessment and formulation: what specifically is the problem, when did it start, what keeps it going now. You and your therapist then agree on a target and a way to measure it, often a short standardised questionnaire you repeat every few weeks so progress is visible rather than a matter of impression.
- A written formulation you both work from, not a private clinical opinion
- An agreed agenda at the start of every session
- Homework set collaboratively, and reviewed at the next session
- A relapse prevention plan built before therapy ends
When CBT is not the right first move
CBT asks you to observe and challenge your own thinking, which is difficult while you are in crisis, actively dissociating, or so depressed that behavioural activation is the only thing that will move. In those cases we usually stabilise first, or start with a different modality and bring CBT in later. A therapist who insists on a thought record when someone cannot get out of bed is following a manual rather than treating a person.
What to expect
CBT often involves homework assignments and skill-building exercises, empowering you to become an active participant in your own recovery. Courses of CBT are typically time-limited (around 12 to 20 sessions), and the skills learned can be applied long after therapy has ended, providing tools for managing future challenges and preventing relapse.
- 1
Two assessment sessions producing a shared, written formulation of the problem
- 2
An agreed target and a simple measure you repeat every few weeks
- 3
Sessions that open with an agenda and close with homework
- 4
Thought records, behavioural experiments, and graded exposure as the problem requires
- 5
Roughly twelve to twenty sessions for a single clear target
- 6
A relapse prevention plan written before you finish
Ready to start?
Tell us a little about yourself and we will match you with a clinician trained in CBT.
Get matched →Therapists trained in CBT
Jonathan NewmanLicensed Master Social Worker
Cara GoldsmithLicensed Mental Health Counselor
Sarie KorfLicensed Master Social Worker
Gavriel VelenskiMental Health Counselor
Shmuel KesselmanMental Health Counselor & Operations Coordinator
Racheli SolomonLicensed Master Social Worker
Hannah KrausLicensed Master Social Worker
Rikal KahanovLicensed Master Social Worker
Jacqueline MizrachiLicensed Master Social Worker
Jennifer AghavianLicensed Master Social Worker
Alexa GoldfederLicensed Master Social Worker
Rikal MangelLicensed Master Social Worker
Sara BlumLicensed Master Social Worker
