About CBT
There are many forms of psychotherapy and many of them are good. When it comes to anxiety, though, the evidence is now clear: cognitive-behavioral therapy is the most effective treatment.
In 1993, the American Psychological Association appointed a special team to determine which therapeutic approaches work for particular problems. Its findings in the anxiety category were very simple: All effective treatments were forms of CBT. For this reason, experts around the world — from the National Institute of Mental Health to the Mayo Clinic — strongly recommend CBT for the treatment of anxiety.
As with most good things, there is something of a catch: for CBT to really work, we must really work. Cognitive-behavioral therapy usually has a “face your fears” component, where we push ourselves into the world and confront the things that scare us. This, as you might imagine, is easier said than done. But research shows it is very doable, and the rewards are worth it.
To learn more about CBT, please visit The Association of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies or The Mayo Clinic.
Dylan M. Kollman, PhD
dkollman@realanxietysolutions.com
