Cognitive Behavioural Therapy:

The most commonly used and recognized form of evidence-based treatment for older children, teens and adults with anxiety is Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy. This type of therapy, also called CBT, focuses on the relationship between our thoughts, feelings and behaviour.

By changing the way we think and the way we behave, we can learn how to feel better and less anxious.

CBT has an educational component that teaches us about anxiety. It also, often, involves some relaxation or mindfulness techniques to help us manage the physical symptoms of anxiety.

CBT helps us to identify “self-talk”, the way in which we understand and think about our selves, our relationships and our world. Often teens with anxiety unknowingly fall into common “thinking traps” - negative thinking patterns that prevent us from seeing situations in a realistic way, or keep us focused on worried thoughts or worst-case scenarios.

Through CBT, we learn how to recognize and change these anxious thoughts to be more realistic and balanced. CBT also teaches us how to break down our worries into small, manageable steps, and how to face our fears in a very planned-out way called “exposure”.

Exposure practices begin by learning how to face a small fear until it is no longer causes anxiety. Then gradually, we move up the “fear ladder” and learn to face more challenging fears by building on previous successes.

In some cases where someone is experiencing severe anxiety, they may opt to take medication to help reduce the symptoms of anxiety. Using medication in combination with CBT can be more effective for some types of anxiety, versus using one type of treatment alone. However, it is believed to be the skills learned through CBT that provide lasting changes, reductions in anxiety and improved mental health. This is a conversation to have with your professional therapist and primary medical doctor.

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