What is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy?

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a therapeutic approach that helps you understand how your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors are interconnected and influence your overall well-being.

Thoughts → Emotions → Behaviors
This is the most commonly known pattern in CBT. Our thoughts—especially automatic thoughts and interpretations—can trigger specific emotional responses. For example, self-critical thoughts may lead to sadness, anxiety, or low self-esteem, which can then influence behavior such as avoidance.

Emotions → Thoughts → Behaviors
Emotions also shape how we think and interpret situations. Intense emotional states can bias perception. For instance, anxiety may lead you to interpret neutral situations as threatening, reinforcing worry and avoidance behaviors.

CBT offers a practical and collaborative framework to identify and modify these patterns, promoting emotional balance and well-being.

What are third-wave therapies?

Third-wave therapies evolved from CBT, expanding its focus beyond symptom reduction to include awareness, acceptance, and alignment with personal values.

Third-wave therapies in my clinical practice

– Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
– Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
– Behavioral Activation (BA)
– Positive Psychology

Trauma-focused intervention

– EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing)

Why Mindfulness in Psychotherapy?

Mindfulness helps develop awareness of the present moment and of automatic thought patterns contributing to emotional distress.

It allows individuals to respond more consciously and adaptively rather than react automatically, while fostering self-acceptance and compassion.