Episode 42

CBT

No, I'm not talking about some cannabis product.

In this episode, I explore the interventions collectively known as cognitive behavioral therapy, the gold standard treatment in the field of mental health. CBT functions as an effective therapeutic tool by focusing on each of the points of the cognitive triangle - thoughts, emotions, and action:

Identifying common or even automatic thoughts and judgements, scrutinizing assumptions - running experiments to test these automatic thoughts and assumptions.

Looking at our behavior patterns - are they desired? Are they skillful? Are they leading to the outcomes you desire in terms of your health and wellbeing?

Then again running some experiments - what would happen if you adjusted variable X - what is the impact on outcome Y? Was that helpful? Is that more in alignment with your core values?

Engaging in more skillful coping strategies like physical activity, healthy nutrition, quality social engagement, immersion in nature, and quality sleep can all play a significant role as well.

The key to wellbeing is understanding our thoughts, emotions, behaviors - where they come from, how they interact, and how we relate to them, and when anything falls short, making adjustments and experimenting to find out what works best - for sleep and for the rest of life.