What is Cognitive Emotional Behavior Therapy?
Cognitive Emotional Behavioral Therapy (CEBT) can help you understand the experience and expression of your emotions. Then you can identify and challenge your beliefs and attend and respond to your emotions adaptively.
Finding your inner calm
Many trauma survivors have maladaptive emotional coping behaviors. CEBT draws upon a range of models and techniques, including:
- cognitive behavioral therapy,
- dialectical behavioral therapy,
- mindfulness training, and
- experiential work.
The experiential component and elements of mindfulness training add another dimension to treatment. They give you the opportunity for creativity and self-exploration.
If you’re like many trauma survivors you tend to struggle with:
- perfectionism,
- extreme control,
- harsh self-criticism,
- depression, and
- anxiety.
Finding Calm in the Emotional Storm
The gentle, compassionate-mindful approach behind CEBT offers an alternative lifestyle approach that becomes a lifelong practice unique to each person.
You can benefit a great deal knowing and accepting that your emotions, feelings, and thoughts do not necessarily reflect reality. When you allow them to pass through consciousness without judgment, the healing can begin.By learning to recognize and acknowledge negative emotions and feelings, you can avoid being overwhelmed by even strong emotions.
Thich Nhat Hanh, the Buddhist meditation master, writes:
Hanh, goes on to say;
CEBT enables us to be calm throughout the appearance and disappearance of feelings. You can learn to not be attached to feelings, but also to not push them away. To acknowledge feelings with an even mind is the very best way; while you are acknowledging them, slowly, slowly you come to a deep realization of their nature. It is that insight which will enable you to be free and at ease as you face each feeling. See what you notice and how you feel…then let it go.
