Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is a commonly used form of therapy that focusses on evidence-based methods. It can help men (and women, for that matter) with reconciling feelings, behaviours, and negative thoughts that may be associated with them.
There is a link between emotions, biology, and our behavioural reactions, and CBT aims to understand and address these links for your specific circumstances. As such, it isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach and is completely tailored to your needs. In this article we will explain what CBT is and how it can help.
Are We Rational?
Although not necessarily attributed to Aristotle, a great many scholars have referred to humans as rational animals. That is to say, we’re different from other species in that we don’t live by instinct alone and we’re gifted with reason, but we still have many instinctual behaviours and tendencies that just seem to steamroll right over our rational mind.
Animals act by instinct rather than reason, although they can be conditioned or trained. For example Pavlov’s dogs were trained to come eat meat after hearing a bell and eventually learned to respond by salivating to the sound of the bell due to its association with food.
As humans, we condition ourselves to our environment and to circumstances and events in life, whether good or bad. Sometimes, that conditioning triggers stress responses, or perhaps anxiety, depression, or other fears that don’t seem to logically fit.
What is CBT and How Does it Work?
Much like how we can become conditioned to have negative thoughts and behaviours as a response to something (perhaps past trauma), there are ways to understand those behaviours and address them, gradually learning to change our conditioning and react in a more well-managed manner.
CBT focuses on goals and is a form of psychotherapy that looks at the connections between your situations, thoughts and emotions, as well as behaviours. Cloudy thinking or simply instinctive reactions to situations can be reviewed so that you can achieve more clarity and temper your thoughts, emotions, and feelings when those triggers arise again.
CBT works by seeing a qualified CBT therapy professional in Brisbane and working through – and yes, it is a gradual process – those negative thoughts and feelings, eventually replacing them with more balanced, positive alternatives.
Benefits of CBT for Men
As men, we have many challenges that are imposed on us, perhaps by family, work, or other life circumstances. There is often pressure on us to perform, sometimes at the expense of our mental health.
While CBT can be beneficial for everyone, the symptoms and reactions to behaviours in men can be quite unique and sometimes even dangerous to ourselves or to those around us.
CBT for men can help reframe and reorganise our thought patterns and behaviours so that whenever we do feel stress, anxiety, or depression (and all of these are likely and we may experience throughout our entire lives), we’re in a much better position ot manage them.
Moreover, it can help men develop a stronger sense of confidence and self-esteem, particularly if our thoughts constantly revolve around feeling inadequate, i.e. “not good enough.”
In turn, this can help men lead a more assertive and confident personal life as well as professional life. It’s a practical way to cope with many of the challenges life throws at all of us, and many men see extraordinary results after receiving CBT from a psychologist in Brisbane.
Cognitive Clarity
For CBT therapy in Brisbane, get in touch with us at Cognitive Clarity.