What Is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy?

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a structured, evidence-based approach built on a simple idea: the way you think about a situation shapes how you feel and how you act. Together, we identify the thought patterns that keep a problem going, test whether they're accurate, and build practical tools you can use in daily life — not just in session.

What CBT tends to help with

✓Anxiety and panic
✓Persistent worry and rumination
✓Specific phobias
✓Obsessive-compulsive patterns
✓Depression and low mood

What a session actually looks like

A typical CBT session is collaborative and structured. Rather than open-ended free association, we work together to identify a specific problem, examine the thoughts that show up around it, and test whether those thoughts are accurate or helpful. A lot of the real work happens between sessions, through small practical exercises you bring back to discuss.

Is CBT right for you?

CBT tends to work particularly well if you want a structured, goal-oriented approach and are comfortable doing some reflection and practice outside of sessions. It's not the only useful approach — for concerns that are more relational in nature, a systemic approach can be a better fit, and the two can also be combined.

Five techniques you might practice

1.The thought record
2.Behavioral activation
3.Examining the evidence
4.Graded exposure
5.The "decatastrophizing" question