Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in NYC

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) focuses on the patterns of thinking, behavior, and emotional responding that are associated with distress or life dissatisfaction. In CBT, clients learn techniques to recognize and change these patterns. CBT is an empirically supported treatment for a wide variety of problems including depression, anxiety, eating disorders, compulsive behaviors, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and test anxiety. CBT is a time-limited treatment, typically lasting from 10 to 20 sessions. Between weekly individual sessions, clients practice skills learned in session through homework exercises. Practice of the skills increases the likelihood that they will generalize to your life outside of therapy after treatment has ended.

Our CBT Program

CBT therapists take an active, in-session stance to teach clients skills that can be used to improve current functioning. Individual therapy sessions are 45 minutes long and take place over Zoom. Clients receive individualized reading, writing, or behavioral assignments to be completed during the week, which will help them generalize lessons learned in session to their daily lives.

Depression

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy has repeatedly been shown to have a lasting effect in the treatment of depression and anxiety disorders. Meta-analyses of 48 randomized controlled trials demonstrate that Cognitive Therapy (CT) is effective in treating mild to moderate depression (Gloaguen, Cottraux, Cucherat, & Blackburn, 1997). Research shows that CBT is superior to anti-depressant treatment, and can be used as an alternative or adjunctive to pharmacological therapy. Combination therapy (medication plus CBT) is beneficial for cases of chronic and severe depression (Parker, Roy, and Eyers, 2003). CBT is a particularly effective and preventative treatment For populations who cannot tolerate medicine, medication-resistant depressive disorders, or children and adolescents for whom early prescribing poses concerns. (Parker et al., 2003).

The effects of CBT continue after treatment is ended. CBT for depression significantly reduces the recurrence of depression over the following 1-2 years (Gloaguen et al., 1997). In a six-year study of patients suffering from recurrent depression, those who received CBT after initial pharmacotherapy showed a significantly lower relapse rate at a six year follow-up compared to those who did not receive CBT (Fava, Ruini, Rafanelli, Fionis, Conti, & Grandi, 2004).

Anxiety Disorders

CBT involving cognitive restructuring, relaxation training, and strategies to promote well-being, is effective in treating generalized anxiety (Hollon, Stewart, & Strunk, 2006), CBT alone or in conjunction with medication significantly reduce catastrophic thinking for patients with panic disorder and agoraphobia. We offer a wide range of offerings for anxiety disorders: CBT for anxiety, CBT for OCD, CBT for PTSD, and CBT for GAD.

CBT for anxiety treatment has a higher likelihood to maintain gains after treatment termination than those treated with medication alone. Similar effects have been cited for patients with hypochondriasis and concerns about physical illness, interpersonal anxiety or social phobia, specific phobias, Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) (Hollon et al., 2006).

Hoffman and Smits’ (2008) meta-analysis of 27 randomized placebo-controlled trials showed that CBT is efficacious for the treatment of adult anxiety disorders. The largest effect sizes for CBT treatment in this analysis were found in patients diagnosed with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Acute Stress Disorder under DSM-III-R or DSM-IV criteria (Hofmann & Smits, 2008). A randomized, controlled trial comparing CBT to short-term psychodynamic therapy in adults with generalized anxiety disorder found CBT to be superior in outcome measures of pathological worry, trait anxiety and depression. (Leichsenring et al., 2009).