Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Stress Reduction
Stress is comprised of physical processes that the body goes through when faced with certain situations. These physical processes happen automatically and are difficult to control. Top that with the accompanying mental processes and the result is stress.People experience varying degress of this unpleasant mental state, and those who have a predilection towards anxiety or mental illness may be more prone to the feeling.
The amount of stress someone will feel when faced with a situation is based on how the individual interprets what is causing it. Some people will feel threatened or afraid because they think they have no control over what is happening around them. The consequence of this feeling of lack of control is stress. Then there are those who are completely prepared to handle the situation, and rarely feel stress unless in extreme situations.
What is the Theory Behind Cognitive Behavioral Therapy?
Cognitive behavioral therapy is based on the idea that it is not life events themselves that cause stress, it's the way we feel about these events and how we react to them. It is the perception of danger and not any actual threat of danger that determines just how stressed a person is likely to get in a given situation.
Our thoughts about a situation and the negative way in which we talk to ourselves about it can trigger stress. When this "self talk" is always negative, someone is bound to see things as more stressful than they are. When convinced that the situation is not fair and is too difficult to overcome, the situation becomes even more stressful to try to deal with. Optimistic self-talk, for instance thinking of the situation as a challenge to overcome or a test to pass, can help with managing stress.
Cognitive behavioral therapy, in other words, combines the cognitive side of life - that part that includes learning, reasoning and perception - with behavior. Behavior refers to the actions we take.
Can Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Really Help with Stress?
Therapists try to understand the thought processes of a patient in order to help him or her change the way he or she looks at things. Someone who suffers from stress frequently has persistent negative thought patterns, known as cognitive distortions. These people have trouble looking at their life without their thoughts distorting their view of things, such as the mind putting a negative perspective on reality. The therapist's job is to help the patient find a more positive way of looking at things.
Cognitive behavioral therapy is considered to be one of the most successful psychological treatments for stress. Treatment can last from 10 to 12 weeks and the therapy is conducted without the aid of medications. Some people begin to find relief from their chronic stress in as little as three or four weeks. This type of therapy is not just a temporary fix. When successful, the results are permanent. Patients can continue to use the techniques they learned in therapy to manage stress.
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