
What is Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy?
CBT is a type of psychological treatment used to treat anxiety disorders, depression, substance use disorders (SUD), and other mental health disorders. Developed by psychiatrist Aaron Beck in the 60s, he found that there was a significant link between a person’s automatic thoughts and their feelings or emotions.
He had patients describe their feelings when specific thoughts popped into their minds; often, patients were not fully aware of the thoughts but learned to identify them. In doing so, patients were able to track negative emotions or behaviors to their thoughts.