Select Page

Find a CBT Therapist

Search through our directory of local clinicians.

Military and Veterans

About ABCT

Related Items

Navigating Graduate School with Sexual or Gender Minority Identities and Interests - The aim of this panel is to provide current and prospective students who identify as members of the sexual and gender minority (SGM) community with a resource on considerations for navigating graduate school in a way that aligns with their values and goals.
Resilience Briefing Book

Resilience Briefing Book

The Resilience Briefing Book is a vital resource to communicate with the media and the public at large about the importance of resilience: what it is, why it’s important, and how to harness and promote resilience across the lifespan.

Gun Violence Briefing Book

Gun Violence Briefing Book

Gun Violence: a briefing book for journalists to help put guns and violence in context and provide an overview of how CBT might help to combat those elements that promote violence and sooth the effects of the trauma witnessed upon others.

Suicide Briefing Book

Suicide Briefing Book

Suicide Briefing Book: A resource for the media and lay people looking to better understand, write about, or talk about suicide.

Military Veterans Mental Health

Military Veterans Mental Health

Though military personnel and veterans can experience the full range of mental health conditions, research suggests they are more likely to be diagnosed with mood and anxiety disorders, including depression, panic, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), as well as anger-related disorders.

Military Veterans Mental Health

Military Suicide

Suicides among military personnel have been steadily rising during the past ten years, with suicide now being the second-leading cause of death among military personnel.

Select a Category

What is Cognitive Behavior Therapy?

Behavior Therapy and Cognitive Behavior Therapy are types of treatment that are based firmly on research findings. These approaches aid people in achieving specific changes or goals.

Changes or goals might involve:

A way of acting: like smoking less or being more outgoing;
A way of feeling: like helping a person to be less scared, less depressed, or less anxious;
A way of thinking: like learning to problem-solve or get rid of self-defeating thoughts;
A way of dealing with physical or medical problems: like lessening back pain or helping a person stick to a doctor’s suggestions.

Behavior Therapists and Cognitive Behavior Therapists usually focus more on the current situation and its solution, rather than the past. They concentrate on a person’s views and beliefs about their life, not on personality traits. Behavior Therapists and Cognitive Behavior Therapists treat individuals, parents, children, couples, and families. Replacing ways of living that do not work well with ways of living that work, and giving people more control over their lives, are common goals of behavior and cognitive behavior therapy.

How to Get Help

If you are looking for help, either for yourself or someone else, you may be tempted to call someone who advertises in a local publication or who comes up from a search of the Internet. You may, or may not, find a competent therapist in this manner. It is wise to check on the credentials of a psychotherapist. It is expected that competent therapists hold advanced academic degrees. They should be listed as members of professional organizations, such as the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies or the American Psychological Association. Of course, they should be licensed to practice in your state. You can find competent specialists who are affiliated with local universities or mental health facilities or who are listed on the websites of professional organizations. You may, of course, visit our website (www.abct.org) and click on “Find a CBT Therapist”

The Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT) is an interdisciplinary organization committed to the advancement of a scientific approach to the understanding and amelioration of problems of the human condition. These aims are achieved through the investigation and application of behavioral, cognitive, and other evidence-based principles to assessment, prevention, and treatment.