ABCs of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
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The ABCs of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) are a foundational skill in CBT. The ABCs involve recognizing an activating event, understanding the consequences of that event, and examining the beliefs that contribute to our reactions. An example of an activating event is getting cut off in traffic. The consequences of this event may include anger, activation of the HPA axis, increased blood pressure, and racing heart. Our thinking may become cloudy and we may become grumpy or irritable. To understand how we got from the activating event to our reaction, we need to identify the beliefs that contributed to our reaction. We then go through each belief and dispute it based on the facts. For example, if we believe the person who cut us off was being rude, we can question whether there are facts to support this belief. We may find that the person simply didn't see us because we were in their blind spot. By addressing each belief based on the facts, we can adjust our reactions. Some beliefs may still remain, and that's okay as long as they are helpful. We then evaluate the effectiveness of our reactions based on the factual beliefs. We ask ourselves if getting bothered by the person who cut us off in traffic is helping us move towards our rich and meaningful life. In most cases, it is not. An anecdote is shared about a parent getting angry at someone who cut them off in traffic, only to be reminded by their child that the person couldn't hear them. This story highlights the importance of choosing more effective reactions, such as backing off from unsafe drivers, rather than holding onto anger.
The ABCs of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) are a foundational skill in CBT. The ABCs involve rec