Josh Hillebrand LCSW

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is one of the most well-researched psychotherapy treatments for depression. CBT is based on the idea that our thoughts and beliefs have more of an impact on our mood than the situations we find ourselves in. Consider the following example: someone is thinking about cleaning their apartment. In one scenario, they have thoughts about how nice it will be to have the apartment clean, imagine inviting friends over to hang out, remind themselves they don’t have to clean the whole place at once. In another version, especially if someone is depressed, they might have thoughts like “I’m too tired,” “let’s wait another day,” “no one will want to visit me anyway.” The person in the first scenario is much more likely to clean the apartment which is aligned with their goals. Not so much when the brain is depressed and having all these Automatic Negative Thoughts (ANTS).

CBT has a whole program for helping people begin to notice their automatic thoughts and how these thoughts affect their behaviors and feelings. As a side note, this is why I often use mindfulness interventions with clients, because we all need to build the muscle of being able to notice our thoughts and thinking, and then deciding what to do with them instead of just automatically getting swept away by them. The idea is that when the brain is depressed, it’s not thinking all that clearly. It gets pulled into what we call cognitive distortions or thinking mistakes. Like black-and-white thinking, personalization, mind-reading, and a whole lot more. This is one reason why it can be so hard to live with depression – in a very insidious way, your thoughts are working against you.

Further, the underlying theories of CBT suggest that our ANTS can often be traced back to maladaptive core beliefs which usually fall under one of the following categories:

• I’m unloveable
• I’m unworthy
• I’m incompetent

These harmful messages likely got stuck in our brains because of painful negative events or relationships that we experienced at some point in life. CBT will help people begin to identify what their maladaptive core beliefs are, help them identify what they would like to believe about themselves, and begin taking actions in accordance with the adaptive beliefs.

If you’re suffering from depression, please seek out professional help from a licensed therapist to get the help and support you deserve!