Your cognitive behavioral therapy session will look different depending on what you use it to treat. But in general, with cognitive-behavioral therapy near Miami, your therapy sessions can last between a few weeks and a few months, depending on your need. Those sessions are often divided into three main segments, each with a slightly different purpose, building off the previous segment.

1. The first two therapy sessions might focus on identifying the problems and clarifying the relationship between your thoughts, emotions, and behavior. It might also emphasize the importance of homework tasks and help you better understand the cognitive model of CBT. 
2. The next three to ten sessions would represent the second segment. They might focus on teaching you about cognitive distortions, testing your automatic beliefs, refining your problem-solving strategies, and helping you practice things like social skills.
3. The third and final segment might help you examine and modify your cognitive structures while focusing on relapse prevention. At this level, you might also integrate supportive Psychotherapy and support groups to share your experiences with other people and meet regularly to discuss improvements and problem-solving strategies.

Some examples of automatic thoughts and the psychological problems they can produce include:

Perfectionism: 

You might feel anxious about potentially failing, so you fail in rehab on purpose.

Mind Reading: 

You might assume that everyone thinks you are a failure or pathetic.

Emotional Reasoning: 

You might assume that because you feel something, it must be true, so if you feel stupid, then you believe that you really are stupid.

All or Nothing: 

You might believe that because you had a setback or a relapse, then you are automatically doomed to go back to where you were in your addiction or situation. 

“Should” Statements:

You constantly add the word “should” to the start of your thoughts, like you should be in control all the time, or you shouldn’t show vulnerability to others.

Jumping to Conclusions: 

You automatically jump to conclusions no matter what the situation is. If you saw a missed call from your therapist, you might assume that you’re automatically in trouble or you did something wrong.

Labelling: 

You apply labels to yourself and others without consciously realizing it. You might label yourself a drug addict and a failure and then behave based on those labels.

Dwelling on the Negative:

You might have automatic thoughts that you always screw things up, so why should this attempt at rehab be any different.

When you are better able to recognize the thoughts and ideas you have, you can learn how to handle them better and not give in to automatic emotional reactions. Consider this:

You attended a group therapy session. After, the therapist asks you to stick around for a minute. You automatically assume you did something wrong, you are a failure, and they are going to chastise you for being a failure. So you start to feel anxious and upset, with a pit in your stomach. 

So when everyone else leaves the room and you walk up to your therapist, you immediately apologize to them and let them know that you are well aware that you are a failure and you should be doing more to stay clean.

With CBT in South Florida, not only do you have regular meetings with your therapist, but you also have homework, and this homework can help you learn how to recognize things like the automatic thoughts in the example above, how to manage things like anxiety, and how not to give in to thoughts and psychological problems associated with them. 

With ongoing South Florida CBT, that scenario changes:

You attended a group therapy session. After, the therapist asks you to stick around for a minute. You think it might have something to do with you not attending last week, but you ignore that thought and don’t panic. In the end, they congratulate you on your progress and point out that a new group member could benefit from some support, so would you be willing to call them?

Let Prevail Recovery help you find South Florida CBT now.