Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)

CBT was invented in the 1960s by Dr Aaron T. Beck, a psychiatrist who found that specific patterns of thinking influence how we feel, which he named “automatic negative thoughts.” In other words, he apprehended that what you think can impact how you feel, which in turn, influences how you respond to life events. 

For example, imagine you are the CEO of a small-scale company that suffers from low levels of anxiety. Suddenly, your business begins to grow and succeed at a rapid rate. But, paradoxically, the more money you earn, the most acute the anxiety becomes. As a result, even though work is going well, it becomes more and more stressful. Eventually, you become agitated whenever you receive an email or go to a meeting. This agitation begins to influence your relationships, as your mind begins searching for ‘proof’ that your employees or shareholders believe that you are doing a lousy job. You may become defensive and short-tempered, which makes you feel lonely and unsupported. To cope with these difficult emotions, you could start relying on alcohol, which sows the seeds for dependency.

During a CBT session, your therapist will help you identify which negative beliefs contributed to the anxiety and why they made success feel frightening. For instance, they could help you list evidence that supports your belief that everyone assumes you are an inadequate CEO and evidence that nullifies this idea. Then, you dive deeper into this evidence and explore whether it reflects reality or is an “automatic negative thought.” Through techniques like these, you may begin to realize that you held the negative belief that you were not worthy of success, suffered from a fear of failure, or any of the various other harmful ideas we can unknowingly hold about ourselves. Once identified, your therapist will help you surmount these thoughts via various methods, such as practising positive self-talk or journaling your accomplishments.

While CBT is a highly effective stand-alone treatment, at Paracelsus Recovery, we use it in association with other methods. For instance, your treatment plan could consist of many hours of CBT, EMDR, mindfulness-based therapy, yoga, and biochemical restoration. In so doing, we make sure that our treatment program can re-establish your health on a neurochemical, emotional, and physical level.

CBT can help with issues such as

• Depression.
• Eating disorders.
• Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
• Anxiety disorders.
• Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
• Narcissistic abuse.
• Personality disorders.
• Substance abuse.
• Relationship difficulties.
• Stress and burnout.

Our psychotherapeutic team consists of many leading experts in cognitive behavioural therapy. Before sessions begin, your psychotherapist will help you create a treatment plan. We adopt the “SMART” model, which involves focusing on precise, proscribed, feasible, realistic, and time-bounded goals.

We provide CBT at our inpatient treatment centre in Zurich and in London.