Cognitive Behavior Therapy
The disappearance of the Malaysian Airlines plane is a mystery. I cannot imagine what the people on the flight felt/ are going through/ went through or the relatives on the ground are going through. Flight disasters are very uncommon but when they happen they are spectacular. We tend to remember them more often. Psychologists use a term - Availability Heuristic, to explain why we remember air plane crashes more often. (Google the term and a lot of information will come up) However, these disasters also evokes a sense of anxiety in a lot of people. Feeling anxious, is natural. Especially in a situation like this. We can only hope for the best and offer our support to the families and friends of the people aboard the flight.
We feel anxious under a lot of circumstances. Think final exams in school, your first public speaking engagement, first date, job interview. I felt anxious the first day of class when I was teaching. I know my friend gets anxious every time she has to get on a plane. Some people experience Panic sometimes. Under all circumstances, Anxiety and Panic is uncomfortable. We learn to manage our anxieties mostly, we need help when anxiety interferes with our life. Cognitive Behavior Therapy ( CBT) is a evidenced based therapy used to help people cope with Anxiety. The basic assumption of CBT is that Thought,, Feelings and Behaviors are all interconnected. If we can change the way we Think and we can change the way we feel and act. Sometimes, we can change our Behavior and it will have an impact on the way we feel.
The therapist who uses CBT will usually collaborate with the individual to make realistic short term and ,long term goals. The individual has to be accountable for taking the small steps towards change, so the therapist will assign weekly or biweekly homework to be followed through and a ‘check in ‘ at the beginning of each session.
CBT can be used with children as well as adults.
For more information talk to your therapist or call our office at 201-952-9905.
Some helpful websites http://www.abct.org/Resources/?m=mResources
http://www.beckinstitute.org/cognitive-behavioral-therapy/
http://www.nacbt.org/whatiscbt.htm