Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

I have been using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) throughout my clinical career, beginning with my work in community mental health after graduating in 2016. Since then, I have completed multiple CBT trainings and continue to incorporate CBT into my work when it is clinically helpful. CBT is an evidence-based approach with extensive research supporting its use for anxiety, depression, and other mental health concerns.

I don't believe CBT means replacing difficult thoughts with positive ones or telling yourself that everything is okay when it isn't. Your feelings are valid. Instead, we can acknowledge and process the emotion while also looking at the thoughts connected to it. Together, we may ask: Is this a fact or an assumption? What evidence supports this thought? Is there another way to understand what happened? Can we find a more balanced or neutral perspective?

CBT can be especially helpful when anxiety starts to spiral, negative core beliefs become deeply rooted, or your thoughts leave you feeling stuck. I may use Socratic questioning, thought patterns, cognitive reframing, downward-arrow techniques, and worksheets to help you recognize and interrupt unhelpful thinking patterns. I also encourage you to practice these skills outside of therapy so they become tools you can actually use when you're feeling overwhelmed.

CBT May Be Helpful If You:

  • Find yourself overthinking or caught in anxiety spirals

  • Frequently assume the worst or jump to conclusions

  • Struggle with negative beliefs about yourself

  • Feel stuck in patterns of self-criticism or hopelessness

  • Experience depression or difficulty getting out of negative thought cycles

  • Have trouble separating facts from assumptions

  • Find yourself making assumptions about what other people are thinking or feeling

  • Want practical tools you can use when anxiety or difficult thoughts arise

  • Understand your thoughts logically but still struggle to interrupt the cycle

CBT can be integrated with other approaches, including somatic and body-based practices, depending on what you need. Sometimes change requires looking at our thoughts, and sometimes it requires slowing down and noticing what is happening in our bodies and emotions. We can make room for both.