Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Anxiety and OCD
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), is a treatment modality that involves two core components, Cognitive Therapy and Behavioral Therapy.
Cognitive Therapy
The Cognitive component of therapy, first involves learning to identify distorted or “faulty” thoughts that lead you to performing compulsive behaviors. Once you are able to recognize these thoughts, you can then work to correct them with a more rational and reasonable response.
Behavioral Therapy
The Behavioral component of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, involves changing our behavior, or response, to the original thought or obsession. This involves exposing ourselves to our feared consequence. This process is called Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP). TO properly perform ERP, we will compose a list of all of the compulsive behaviors you perform in effort to reduce or control your anxiety. You will then order your compulsions in a hierarchical fashion, from easiest to stop performing, to hardest to stop performing. Once the list is complete, we will continuously work on being able to refrain from performing each compulsive behavior. Some people find that just reading this, creates an immediate anxious response for them, but rest assured, you get to control what exposures you do, and you do them at your pace.
Mindfulness Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (MBCBT)
Third Wave Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (MBCBT) applies the additional component of Mindfulness to traditional CBT. Mindfulness is based on eastern philosophies that teach us to be more present and accepting of our discomforts and the current situation.
Our aim is to teach you the tools needed to manage your anxiety and troubleshoot any struggles you may have, along the way. Specific tools in addition to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) may include, stress reduction tools, mindfulness meditation and possible medications that can be prescribed by a psychiatrist, if desired by the client.
We provide treatment for the greater Los Angeles County area, San Fernando Valley area and Ventura County area, including Calabasas, Woodland Hills, Hidden Hills, Bell Canyon, Encino, Tarzana, Agoura, Westlake Village, Thousand Oaks, Oak Park, Santa Monica and Malibu.
