COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL THERAPY

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Children, Teens and Adults

The Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Center at Clayton Behavioral is dedicated to using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), one of the most empirically supported treatment modalities for many disorders including depression, anxiety, obsessions/compulsions and trauma. 

We provide individual therapy, individualized intensive programs and groups. 


The most exciting part of CBT is that it makes sense! When working with a CBT therapist, your therapist will help you understand the “cognitive model” and through this you will gain a clear understanding of the problem, how you can improve your well-being and ultimately become your own therapist.

Schedule with a CBT Therapist
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

What is CBT? 

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is an approach to treatment that understands problems that we face in life from the context of thoughts and behaviors. In short, the thoughts we have influence our feelings and our behaviors. Central to CBT is the knowledge that just because we think something does not always mean it is true. Inaccurate thoughts can lead to feelings that are incongruent to the actual situation and can lead to unhelpful choices in how we act. The goal in CBT is to become aware of your thoughts and learn to think accurately and helpfully. 

Learn more about CBT by exploring: 

Why should I choose a CBT therapist at Clayton Behavioral for my treatment?


CBT works! There is a lot of research that supports CBT as the treatment of choice for many problems. At the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Center our therapists are committed to using the most up-to-date CBT approaches to help you reach your goals. Due to CBT's growing popularity, many therapists report using CBT but many are not using CBT in its true form. Unfortunately, this leads to those seeking help concluding that CBT doesn't work for them when they may not have been accurately introduced to it.


What can I expect in my CBT sessions? 


There are several different things you can expect when you come in for a CBT session.


  • The first session will always be an intake appointment. During this appointment a thorough assessment will be completed of your history and current symptoms. This session will serve as an information gathering session rather than a treatment session. You can typically expect a brief summary of what CBT is and a general overview of how CBT may be helpful to you.


  • The second session will typically be a treatment planning session. One of the most important parts of treatment is having a clear idea of where we are heading. In order to prevent meandering sessions that lead to little, if any, movement in the direction you want, a session will be dedicated to adequately exploring your treatment goals.


Additional sessions will be structured and will include an opportunity for collaboration on what the session will be used for. This will be linked to your overall goals in order to ensure that we are making the best use of the time. Sessions are structured and action-oriented. CBT is not basic talk therapy, it is goal-oriented treatment. This means that each session will focus on a strategy to help you move towards your goals and a plan for how you can use this strategy over the coming week to improve your week and expand your practice and learning.


There will always be an 'action plan' or practice component in the time between sessions. Attending therapy regularly is a great way to take the first step towards achieving your goals but if you do nothing between sessions the therapy most likely will not be very helpful. CBT is all about creating new ways to approach the challenging situations and experiences that you have in your life. With most things in life, if you don’t practice it, it will pretty hard to become an expert.


How long does CBT take? 


CBT is designed to be a structured, goal-oriented treatment which often results in it being a shorter term treatment option than other modalities. There is no predetermined amount of sessions but length of treatment will depend on many different factors including your commitment to follow through, practice between sessions and how many treatment goals you have. A CBT therapist's goal is to help you become your own therapist and so it is typical once a plan is developed and progress is being made that the frequency of sessions will be reduced.  



Does the CBT Center use any other treatment approaches? 


Many of the CBT therapists are trained in complementary approaches that are branches of CBT such as Mindfulness and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT). 

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