What are the goals of cognitive behavioral therapy?
Cognitive behavioral therapy is a very commonly used therapy that tries to do three things: It tries to get people back doing the things that they want to do, allowing them to get back into their daily lives and the things that they enjoy. It helps people to problem-solve things that are making them worried, things that are affecting their lives negatively.
And it helps them adjust their thinking so that they can think about and adapt to the things that are happening to them; this allows them to adjust the way they behave and think about their problems in a way that is not as negative and instead in a way that is potentially more positive and more productive.
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About the author: Jesse Fann, MD
Jesse Fann, M.D., M.P.H., is a consultation-liaison psychiatrist in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington and an adjunct professor in the UW departments of Rehabilitation Medicine and Epidemiology. His clinical interests include consultation-liaison psychiatry, psychiatric oncology and neuropsychiatry. His research interests include psychiatric epidemiology, health services research, psychiatric oncology and neuropsychiatry.
