CBT Techniques
Articles on cognitive behavioural therapy, DBT, ACT, and other evidence-based methods. Techniques for self-directed work with anxiety, depression, and emotions.
CBT for Assertiveness: Techniques and Training
Assertiveness training is a concrete program of exercises built into CBT. Not abstract advice to "be more confident" — but real tools: I-statements, the broken record technique, role-play. How it works in practice.
Assertiveness Psychology: What It Is and Why It Matters
Assertiveness is not about being pushy or always getting your way. It is about honesty with yourself and respect for others at the same time. Why it is so difficult — and why it can be learned.
How to Choose a CBT Therapist: What to Look For
How to choose a good CBT therapist? What to look for when choosing, what questions to ask at the first session, and what red flags should alert you.
CBT and Self-Esteem: How to Build a Stable Sense of Self-Worth
Low self-esteem is not a personality trait but a pattern of beliefs. CBT works with self-esteem through changing core beliefs about oneself and behavioral experiments.
Responsibility Pie Technique in CBT: Redistributing Blame
The "responsibility pie" technique helps stop taking 100% of the blame for negative events. A simple and powerful CBT tool against excessive self-blame.
CBT for Anger Management: Why You Get So Angry and What to Do
Anger is not a problem to be eliminated. It is an emotion with meaning. CBT helps understand what underlies anger and how to express it constructively.
Fear of Failure and Perfectionism: CBT Approach
Fear of failure and perfectionism often go hand in hand: "If I can't do something perfectly — better not do it at all." How CBT works with this pattern.
DBT Distress Tolerance Skills: How to Survive a Crisis Without Making It Worse
Distress tolerance is one of the four DBT modules. Skills that help survive a crisis without making everything worse. What they are and how to apply them.
Rumination: How to Stop the Loop of Repetitive Thoughts
Rumination is obsessively repeating thoughts about a problem without moving toward a solution. Why it maintains depression and anxiety, and how to stop it.
Progressive Muscle Relaxation: Reduce Anxiety With Your Body
Progressive muscle relaxation is the classic method for reducing physiological anxiety. How tensing and releasing muscles changes the state of the nervous system.
Mindfulness in CBT: How Awareness Transforms Anxiety
Mindfulness in CBT is not meditation for its own sake. It is the specific skill of aware observation of thoughts and sensations, which changes the response to stress.
Core Beliefs in CBT: Deep Convictions That Shape Everything
Core beliefs are the deepest level of Beck's cognitive model. "I am not good enough," "The world is dangerous," "People will abandon me." How to work with them in CBT.
Third Wave CBT: ACT, DBT, Mindfulness — A New Generation
The third wave of CBT — ACT, DBT, MBCT — changed the approach to thinking: not challenging thoughts, but changing one's relationship to them. What this means in practice.
Behavioral Experiments in CBT: Testing Beliefs in Real Life
Behavioral experiments are more powerful than cognitive restructuring because they provide real experience, not arguments. How to design and conduct them.
Schema Therapy: When Standard CBT Is Not Enough
Schema therapy is a development of CBT for those for whom "standard" CBT didn't help. What schemas and modes are, and how this therapy works with core beliefs.
CBT for Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD): What Works
Generalized anxiety disorder is anxiety about everything at once that cannot be turned off. CBT works with GAD by addressing worry as a process.
CBT-I for Insomnia: The Most Effective Non-Drug Treatment
CBT-I is recommended as the first-line treatment for chronic insomnia — above sleep medications. How it works, what it includes, and why it gives lasting results.
CBT for PTSD: Cognitive Processing Therapy and Prolonged Exposure
CBT approaches to treating PTSD — Cognitive Processing Therapy and exposure-based methods — are among the most effective. How they work and what distinguishes them.
Automatic Thoughts in CBT: How to Notice and Work With Them
Automatic thoughts are the first level of Beck's cognitive model. How to identify them, record them, and begin working with them to change emotional reactions.
CBT for Social Anxiety: How to Overcome Fear of Judgment
Social anxiety is more than shyness. CBT helps with social anxiety disorder through working with self-focused attention and safety behaviors.
STOP Technique for Anxiety: How to Interrupt a Spiral of Thoughts
The STOP technique is a four-step tool from CBT and mindfulness for interrupting automatic reactions in stressful situations. Simple and effective.
Socratic Dialogue in CBT: Questions That Change Thinking
The Socratic dialogue is the key technique of a CBT therapist. How questions, not answers, help a person arrive at a more realistic view of a problem on their own.
Self-Guided CBT: What You Can Do Without a Therapist
Can you practice CBT without a therapist? Yes — with important caveats. Which techniques work independently, which don't, and when professional help is needed.
CBT for Panic Attacks: How to Stop the Fear of Fear
CBT is the first-line treatment for panic attacks. How the cognitive model explains panic and which techniques help stop and prevent it.
Behavioral Activation for Depression: Why Action Comes Before Motivation
Behavioral activation is the first and most powerful CBT tool for depression. Why "just start doing something" is not trivial advice but a scientifically validated method.
CBT for OCD: Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP)
CBT with Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) is the gold standard for treating OCD. How it works and why "just not doing the ritual" is the therapy.
Exposure Therapy for Anxiety: How Facing Fear Makes It Weaker
Exposure is the most effective method for treating anxiety disorders. How confronting fear in safe conditions literally rewires the brain.
Cognitive Restructuring: How to Change Negative Thinking
Cognitive restructuring is the heart of CBT. How to change dysfunctional thoughts — not to positive ones, but to realistic ones. A step-by-step technique with examples.
ABC Model in CBT: How Thoughts Create Feelings
The ABC model is the foundation of Albert Ellis's REBT. A is the event, B is the belief, C is the consequence. Why A doesn't cause C but B does — and how to work with this.
Thought Diary in CBT: How to Use It and Why It Works
A thought diary is the foundational tool of CBT. How to keep it properly so it actually changes thinking, rather than just recording negativity.
Cognitive Distortions: Full List and How to Recognize Them
Cognitive distortions are systematic thinking errors that maintain anxiety, depression, and relationship problems. The 15 main distortions with examples.
What Is CBT: An Introduction to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
CBT — Cognitive Behavioral Therapy — is the most studied method of psychotherapy. How it works, what problems it helps with, and how it differs from other approaches.