# Cognitive Behavioural Therapy?



## Cartoon Creature (Jul 12, 2002)

Hi everyone,My brother mentioned Cognitive Behavioural Therapy to me the other day... he didnt know to much about it but thinks it could be very helpful for me.I was wondering if anyone had any more information on it, and how you do it? I cant seem to find any good sites on the net for it.Is it kind like a "self talk"?Thanks HeapsPoo Pea


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## cookies4marilyn (Jun 30, 2000)

Kathleen is our expert for CBT and was very successful with it - I will let her know about your question and hopefully she will pop in here with some info for you.In the meantime, here is some info for you:COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL THERAPY FOR IRRITABLE BOWEL SYNDROME Barbara Bradley Bolen, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist from Farmingdale, NY., and is a member of the American Psychological Association, Association for Advancement of Behavior Therapy and the International Foundation for Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders. Dr. Bolen is the co-author of Breaking the Bonds of Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Psychological Approach to Regaining Control of Your Life. This book provides a comprehensive overview of IBS, and describes its treatments.With permission, here is an excerpt from a previous post:There is an old saying that if you give a child a fish, you feed that child for a day, but if you teach a child to fish, they are fed for a lifetime. In accordance with this old proverb, Cognitive behavioral therapy CBT is a form of psychotherapy that strives to actively teach people skills and strategies that they can use to help themselves feel better.A considerable amount of research indicates that CBT is effective in helping to reduce the symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Many people wonder how psychotherapy can help IBS if IBS is a physical disorder. One of the major triggers that can set off or exacerbate IBS is stress. In addition, IBS is a very stressful disorder to live with. CBT provides an individual with tools for combating stress, reducing the anxiety response and thus calming the GI system. The cognitive therapy part of CBT helps individuals to identify, challenge and replace unhealthy thought patterns. When we are thinking clearly, we are able to deal with the world in a calm, rational manner. However, our thinking often gets distorted, due to our personalities, our past history, our emotional state or lack of information.When thinking gets distorted it can lead to excessive emotional reactions. For an individual with IBS, these thought distortions may lead to an anxiety response that can trigger symptoms. For example, if a person with IBS thinks ï¿½My stomach is rumbling. Uh, oh! I know I am going to be sick. What is I canï¿½t make it to the bathroom? This is terrible!ï¿½, that person is going to experience anxiety and perhaps set off the very symptoms they are afraid of. If instead, the person thinks, ï¿½Just because my stomach is making some noise does not necessarily mean I am going to have symptoms. I will just focus on what I am doing and see what happensï¿½, that person will remain calm and be less likely to stimulate their digestive system. The behavioral aspect of CBT involves skill training. Relaxation techniques, including deep breathing skills and progressive muscle relaxation, help the individual to reduce the physiological symptoms of anxiety. An anxiety reaction can be likened to a home security alarm. Relaxation techniques send the message to the body that there is no emergency and that the alarm can be shut off. CBT for IBS may also include skill training in assertion and anger management, as research has shown that IBS patients often have difficulty in these areas. IBS can wreak havoc on a personï¿½s quality of life. CBT helps IBS sufferers to regain a sense of control over their life. With the skills gained in CBT, one no longer needs to be a passive victim of this disruptive disorder, but can now actively use strategies which are effective in reducing the frequency, intensity and duration of IBS symptoms. Barbara Bradley Bolen, Ph.D. Author of: Breaking the Bonds of Irritable Bowel Syndrome New Harbinger Publications 2000For more information please visit http://www.irritablebowel.net/ More Information re CBT:New York Daily News - Health - Gut reactions ï¿½ CBT Infohttp://www.nydailynews.com/12-10-2002/city...64p-39684c.html http://www.ibsgroup.org/cgi-local/ubbcgi/u...c;f=11;t=000004 http://www.buffalo.edu/reporter/vol34/vol3...ticles/IBS.html===========


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

I did CBT that was focused on IBS as part of a clinical trial. CBT is also used a lot for depression and anxiety and other emotional issues. In the clinical trial it worked for about 70% of the IBSers. It also usually does well in clinical trials for emotional issues.It tends to be focused on the here and now (as opposed to some psychotherapy that is focused more on understading what in the past got you here), what thoughts, beliefs, etc you experience now and looking at which ones make your problem worse and how to switch them to ones that make the problem better. There are a variety of techniques used to get at what you doing/thinking now and finding what strategies work to get you out of the modes of thinking that are not good for you. It usually is done as a fairly short term sort of therapy. So you might be in treatment for 6 weeks to 6 months rather than years and years. The IBS study I was in did the treatment for 3 months.About 1/2 way through the 3 months I had a pretty significant breakthrough and my symptoms continued to disappear after the treatment was over (as it did for most of the people in my study, we were generally better 1 year out when compared to immediately after therapy). I think for me that wasthe best thing. It wasn't something that worked temporarily and then things back tracked, things continued to improve even after the therapy was over.K.


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