Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Cognitive behavioral therapy approaches to solving mental health and emotional problems are more goal-oriented, systematic, and present focused than other traditional forms of treatment (e.g. psychodynamic).

There is empirical evidence that CBT approaches are effective for the treatment of a variety of problems, including depression, anxiety disorders, anger management, phobias, social skills deficits (e.g. extreme shyness), sex addiction, compulsive gambling, and alcohol and drug abuse.

Cognitive behavioral therapy does not exist as a distinct therapeutic technique. The term “cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)” is a very general term for a classification of therapies with similarities.

There are several approaches to cognitive behavioral therapy, including Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy, Cognitive Therapy, and Dialectical Behavior Therapy.

Open Avenue – CBT in Action

At Open Avenue we utilize an eclectic therapeutic approach which incorporates several cognitive behavioral techniques including:

• identifying cognitive distoritions and modifiying them to more objective perceptions of reality
• reconditioning malapative emotion and teaching skills to understand and manage feelings
• behavioral awareness and reconditioning to replace destructive behavior patterns with new ways of acting and being