What is CBT, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy?

CBT is a basis of the process of self-reflective healing in the supportive services I offer.

I was first exposed to CBT as a therapeutic tool in 2013 within a program I voluntarily signed up for at a mental health clinic on Vancouver Island.

Frustrated with feeling as if I was a guinea pig for antidepressant medications, I asked my doctor if there was a way for me to change my brain without them. He signed me up for a program that lasted 7 weeks, which I attribute to the beginning of my journey towards coaching - but my journey actually started before that. The class was like a post-rehabilitation program for people struggling with addiction - a group I did not feel as if I belonged in (I had no addiction issues, just emotional overwhelm that drastically affected my wellbeing). I was exactly where I was supposed to be.

“I think, therefore I am.” Descartes

In 1997 a cinematic masterpiece was released in theatres - Men in Black. There's a scene where an alien is dying, and Will Smith presses a button on the side of its head that releases the face section to reveal a separate tiny alien in a cockpit, surrounded by buttons and lights and levers. I didn't fully understand this reference to philosophy until after having a class in university in 2004 in which I was assigned to read Descartes in order to have me personally assess the "Mind-Body Problem".

Descartes' philosophy made sense to me in the way that I could imagine that we are all little aliens operating human bodies from the cockpit of our minds. I didn't have a more eloquent analogy until I read the book The Untethered Soul by Michael Singer in 2012. Singer introduced me to the idea of "the seat of Self" through a sequence of analogies - which appealed to me, because I love a good analogy. (If you haven't read his book(s), I recommend them. The content is enough to spark a paradigm shift in anyone's thinking patterns.)

“The great mystery begins once you take that seat deep within.” from the Untethered Soul by Michael Singer

The seat of Self, as Singer describes, is "... the center of consciousness. You are behind everything, just watching. That is your true home. Take everything else away and you're still there, aware that everything is gone. But take the center of awareness away, and there is nothing. That center is the seat of Self. From that seat, you are aware that there are thoughts, emotions, and a world coming in through your senses. But now you are aware that you're aware. That is the seat of the Buddhist Self, the Hindu Atman, and the Judeo-Christian Soul. The great mystery begins once you take that seat deep within."

Looking back, this was the perfect jumping off material to begin the work I was about to undertake, which I learned through the program would be my lifelong undertaking - it never ends. Like Sisyphus, we push the proverbial boulder up the hill just to have it roll back down, and we do it again and again throughout our lives. Peeling back our conscious mind in layers, each presents a new, underlying layer to be investigated. Rather than find this depressing or discouraging, I was taught that practice leads to mastery, and to view our lifelong plight(s) as opportunities for growth. When the point is the journey, optimism, curiosity and growth can become inspiring outcomes along our path.

I was introduced to the CBT triangle. Our thoughts, behaviours and actions are connected. Changing one aspect will, in turn, change another. Alternatively, you can either change your circumstances or change your perspective (or sometimes both). I was given worksheets and journal prompts to study my own patterns of what my thoughts, actions and behaviours were, and how they worked together in an interconnected way to culminate in the results and experiences I received in my life.

Psychology Today defines CBT as, "a form of psychotherapy that focuses on modifying dysfunctional emotions, behaviors, and thoughts by interrogating and uprooting negative or irrational beliefs. Considered a "solutions-oriented" form of talk therapy, CBT rests on the idea that thoughts and perceptions influence behavior." Although I do not offer therapy in my practice, I do hold solutions-oriented sessions, wherein I assist you to decide how to solve problems and provide you with the tools in CBT practice to investigate your patterns deeper if you choose to.

“What you resist persists, and what you focus on creates your reality.” Carl Jung

I would love to tell you that after the program, I was completely healed. That's not how it happened though - after the program, I was different. I started to apply what I had learned to my life on an ongoing basis. Eventually, I retrained my brain to use tools I had learned to react and process differently. Practice and focus started to shift my life, a little at a time. I investigated when resistance came up for me, and why. I began to focus on self-mastery and saw the nature of the experiences I had change. I witnessed my thinking creating my reality. I had many different layers of healing to encounter, and I'm still not done - but that is the spirit of the work. Your work. Your most important work - yourself.