Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
What Is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)?
In today’s fast-paced, high-pressure world, it’s easy to feel like you’re falling behind while everyone else seems to have it all together. Balancing a demanding career, meaningful relationships, and a sense of self can feel overwhelming. For many, anxiety, self-doubt, and perfectionism creep in, especially during major life transitions or while scrolling through highlight reels on social media. If you’ve found yourself stuck in cycles of overthinking, burnout, or feeling “not enough,” it can be hard to see a way forward. Together, we can break free from those patterns, regain emotional clarity, and build resilience so you can feel confident in how you show up.
CBT, or Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, is a practical approach that highlights the powerful connection between our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. It shows how the way we perceive situations can shape our experiences. By becoming more aware of your internal dialogue, CBT helps you challenge negative thought patterns and replace them with healthier, more constructive ones. Over time, this process quiets self-criticism and builds resilience, giving you the tools to handle life’s challenges with more confidence and clarity. By integrating CBT into therapy sessions, you can gain a deeper understanding of yourself and create a stronger foundation for emotional well-being.
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How Does Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Work?
In CBT sessions, you'll share concerns with your therapist and explore your thoughts about that experience or situation together. We'll then explore the feelings and behaviors that arise from those thoughts. We'll evaluate whether those thoughts are beneficial or not serving you, exploring how to shift them using CBT tools like cognitive reframing, thought records, or behavioral experiments.
Because the way you perceive a situation is the way you experience it, changing your perception can transform your experience. We may use practical tools to identify when automatic, intrusive, or ruminating thoughts take over and cause unwanted stress or anxiety.
For example, thought records are a cognitive-behavioral tool to help identify, track, and challenge negative or distorted thoughts. By documenting thoughts, their triggers, and emotional responses, you can gain insight into patterns, evaluate the evidence for and against these thoughts, and reframe them into more balanced perspectives. This process supports emotional regulation and promotes healthier thought patterns.
In addition to thought records, CBT utilizes tools like cognitive restructuring to challenge unhelpful beliefs and reframe negative self-talk to promote healthier thinking patterns. Behavioral activation encourages you to engage in rewarding activities to combat feelings of depression, while mindfulness practices help increase awareness of the present moment, fostering emotional regulation and reducing anxiety. Collectively, these tools empower you to make lasting changes in both thinking and behavior.
Who Can Benefit From Cognitive Behavioral Therapy?
At the Union Therapy Group, we train our counselors in CBT because we are committed to giving our clients the tools to attain tangible, real-world results. Our background in working with high-achieving individuals and those facing challenging life transitions allows us to apply CBT in a focused, results-driven way, helping you build resilience in therapy and create meaningful change. With its clear structure and actionable strategies, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy allows you to engage actively in your healing process. CBT is about giving you control—helping you reframe negative thoughts, manage emotions, and navigate life’s challenges more effectively.
By addressing the interplay of thoughts and behaviors, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a highly effective treatment for anxiety-related disorders, depression, and anger management. CBT can also address stress, eating disorder behaviors, low self-esteem, and relationship issues. Unlike other therapies, cognitive behavioral psychotherapy is structured and goal-focused, often delivering progress within 12-20 sessions. Combined with other effective approaches such as Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) and somatic-based therapy, CBT equips clients with practical tools to reframe thoughts, manage emotions, and overcome their most challenging issues.
CBT has been well-researched and is considered "the gold standard for the psychotherapeutic treatment of many or even most mental disorders." [1] A meta-analysis review conducted in 2012 showed that, "In general, the evidence-base of CBT is very strong, and especially for treating anxiety disorders." [2]
Why Cognitive Behavioral Therapy And Trauma-Informed CBT Is A Cornerstone Of Our Practice
Life transitions and high levels of stress can often feel overwhelming, leading to anxiety and self-doubt. At these moments, CBT’s structured methods offer both immediate relief and the tools for lasting change. But we also recognize that for many, underlying trauma plays a significant role in how they experience stress and emotional challenges.
That’s why our therapists integrate traditional CBT with Trauma-Informed Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), tailoring each approach to meet your unique needs. TF-CBT allows us to address the impact of trauma in a safe, compassionate way, while still providing practical strategies to manage thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
Integrating CBT with Trauma-Informed CBT ensures that healing happens without retraumatization. It’s incredibly rewarding to see clients move from feeling stuck or overwhelmed to feeling empowered and resilient, equipped with the tools they need to face life’s challenges confidently. Our goal is to provide you with a space where growth feels not only possible but achievable.
[1] https://www.hopkinsguides.com/hopkins/view/Johns_Hopkins_Psychiatry_Guide/787145/
[2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3584580/
Find Out How Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Can Help You
With an approach focused on achieving clear results for real-world situations, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy can set you on a path to achieve personal growth, emotional regulation, and confidence. To find out more about CBT with the Union Therapy Group, please call or text 914-274-4811 or visit our contact page.
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