Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a type of psychotherapy that is based on the following premise -- your unhealthy moods and behaviors are derived from your negative thoughts and beliefs. Cognitive behavioral therapy puts the responsibility on you, not on other people or outside situations.
There are several approaches to cognitive behavioral therapy. Most are based on the Cognitive Model of Emotional Response, which is based on the above premise -- your thoughts cause your feelings and behaviors. The benefit of cognitive behavioral therapy is that you can change how you think which, in turn, will impact how you act and feel -- even if the situation itself does not change.

Cognitive behavioral therapy is educational and structured. Patients may participate in about 16 sessions of cognitive behavioral therapy (variable depending on the person). You may put more stock in its mental health capabilities, but research shows that CBT could be a useful tool to you as you work to manage a chronic health concern.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: For Chronic Illness and Pain

Let's use pain as an example. In a CBT session, such as one used to deal with chronic pain, there may be a focus on a variety of techniques including relaxation, activity pacing and scheduling, visual imagery techniques, distraction strategies, focal point and visual distraction, problem solving, and goal setting. The sessions should help change thinking patterns about the pain being experienced.

According to the August 2009 issue of The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (American), "The effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy and other treatments that address the psychosocial aspects of disabling musculoskeletal pain has been confirmed in numerous high-quality studies."

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: Helpful for Osteoarthritis and Insomnia

Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia is effective when treating older patients who haveosteoarthritis paired with insomnia, according to the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine. Study results revealed that cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia improved immediate and long-term, self-reported sleep and pain in that group of patients -- even without directly focusing on pain control.
The lead author of the study concluded that insomnia is not a symptom of osteoarthritis -- insomnia co-exists with osteoarthritis. Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia not only improved sleep of the study participants, it also improved the co-existing condition -- in this case, osteoarthritis.
Why? About 60% of osteoarthritis patients report that they experience pain during the night. Pain can worsen sleep disturbance -- and disturbed sleep can exacerbate chronic pain. It's a vicious cycle.
The study suggests that when sleep disturbance is successfully treated, there may be overall better quality of life for osteoarthritis patients and possibly patients who have other chronic pain conditions.

The Bottom Line

While cognitive behavioral therapy isn't discussed as often as prescription medications by most primary care physicians, you may wish to ask your doctor if it would be an appropriate treatment for you.