Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy in Milwaukee

Welcome to New Frontiers Psychiatry & TMS, A main modality of psychotherapy we offer at this clinic is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). It’s an excellent and very effective form of therapy for a multitude of mental health disorders. Some of our providers who perform this therapy are listed below, but this is not necessarily an all-inclusive list:

• Brian Flynn LCSW
• Cara (aka CJ) Hayes PsyD
• Leah O’Reilly PsyD
• Kavitha Venkateswaran PhD
• Joanna Love PhD
• David Radovich PsyD
• Heidi Heimler PsyD

If you are looking for a mental health office that offers cognitive behavioral therapy near you in Milwaukee, we invite you to contact our friendly and compassionate team so we can set up an initial visit with one of our experienced psychotherapists. Call 414-763-6910 or contact us online using our contact form.

What Is Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy?

Dr. Aaron Beck is regarded as the founder of CBT. Some of the major principles CBT is based around is that contributors of mental health disorders include unhelpful ways of thinking. Unhelpful ways of thinking (e.g. black and white thinking) can make us feel worse and possibly see events in an unrealistic and overly negative light. This is further fueled by unhelpful ways of behaving, and unhealthy behaviors can be catalyzed by these negative thoughts and emotions. By increasing self awareness of these thoughts and behaviors, people can regain more control and mastery over aspects of their lives that are within their control. We can learn to process and think in ways that remain realistic, but not in an emotionally overwhelming way. This can allow us to think more clearly, effectively and problem solve. As we gain problem-solving skills that help us think towards ways of resolving a matter, we can build up towards coming up with healthy and effective ways of behaving that create more favorable outcomes. This functions almost in a cyclic way. Healthier thoughts lead to healthier emotions, making healthier behaviors easier to perform, resulting in more favorable outcomes that positively reinforce these changes we are working intently on!

Common Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Techniques

Below are some ways CBT can be utilized in therapy, but this is far from an all-inclusive list.

• Journaling – keeping a journal of thoughts, emotions and behaviors help shed insight on how tightly related these three are and how they have a domino effect on each other
• Behavioral activation – when we assign ourselves to commit to certain activities even if we do not feel up to it. This can be something like waking up at a committed time each day even if we have depression to prevent oversleeping and loss of structure and meaning in day to day life. Or even taking it further to commit to a social activity that day to prevent further isolation, which can further entrench depression.
• Cognitive restructuring – this often involves taking very absolute thinking and fine-tuning it to a more accurate thought process. For example, someone who is depressed can feel worthless and unliked. In reality, that individual potentially does have marketable skills and there are likely individuals who truly care about the person. Cognitive restructuring investigates the facts that support or discredit this type of thinking, and the thought is restructured to something more factually based.
• Problem-solving – is when a provider sits together with a patient to process a seemingly daunting or unachievable task. It commonly involves breaking a large project into much smaller and more achievable tasks. This makes the process look less daunting and the small victories become self reinforcing to continue to the next step. For example, finding a new job is a major endeavor. But it can be broken into steps like brainstorming potential job openings, updating a resume, or even smaller steps. Most individuals are capable of each individual small task, and it is a matter of getting each one done at a pace that is not too overwhelming. As the saying goes, it does not matter how slow the progress appears, as long as you keep going it just becomes a matter of time!

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Anxiety

For anxiety, applying cognitive restructuring can be a starting point. Let’s say someone has social anxiety. They fear doing something foolish or somehow being ridiculed. Worksheets are commonly used to challenge these thoughts, and they often ask questions such as: What thoughts am I having? Is this thought factually based? What evidence do I have to support this thought? What would someone else say about this thought? Is it possible to see this situation differently?

You can work on increasing self awareness by keeping track, especially when you are very anxious of; thoughts you tend to have, behaviors you engage in, and the end result. In the example of social anxiety, a person may find they cancel outings or being the center of attention. Potentially to the point of social isolation. Although it transiently produces relief, this is maladaptive because it entrenches the anxiety one experiences when another opportunity presents to be around others. Further entrenching one to seek avoidance again.

The evidence based route to take is exposure therapy and confront the anxiety. Do that presentation. Do 100 presentations! Go to every social outing opportunity there is. What people will find is that it is almost never as bad as it feels it could be. Each time we do the exposure, the next activity seems less daunting and our minds go through a process of habituation where the anxiety can even become extinct, and we have so much more freedom in our lives.

Examples of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy

If they are looking for help, we are here. At New Frontiers, we offer a number of therapeutic approaches, and our counselors will work with you to determine the right course of treatment for your particular needs. Cognitive-behavioral therapy can be a very effective therapy method to bring about positive changes in a person’s life. If you are looking for a mental health office that offers cognitive behavioral therapy near you in Milwaukee, we invite you to contact our friendly and compassionate team so we can set up an initial visit with one of our experienced psychotherapists. Call 414-763-6910 or contact us online using our contact form.

Don’t live with the misery of depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, PTSD, psychotic spectrum disorders, or another mental health issue. Schedule an appointment with a female psychiatrist by calling 414-763-6910 or by Requesting an Appointment online.

We welcome patients from the Milwaukee area, including New Berlin, Waukesha, Wauwatosa, West Allis, and nearby communities.