CBT — Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy — is built on a straightforward idea: the way you think about something affects how you feel, and how you feel affects what you do. When those patterns are stuck, they tend to reinforce each other. CBT works by slowing that loop down. We look at the thought, examine whether it's accurate or helpful, and practice responding differently. It's structured and skills-based, which makes it more active than traditional talk therapy. And the repetition matters — doing something differently, again and again, actually changes the brain. That's not a metaphor. It's how the patterns stop running on autopilot.

CBT can absolutely stand on its own, and for some people that's exactly what's needed. For most of what I see, it works better as part of a fuller approach. I integrate CBT with IFS and somatic therapy, which means we're working on thoughts, parts, and the body at the same time. A lot of people who come to me have already tried thinking their way out of their patterns. The cognitive piece is useful — it's just not usually the whole story.

No. It's not about forcing positive thinking or pretending difficult feelings don't exist. CBT helps you see the patterns that have been running in the background, understand how they're affecting your emotions, your relationships, and what you do, and learn to respond differently. Sometimes that means catching a thought before it spirals. Sometimes it means taking action even when anxiety is telling you not to. And sometimes it means accepting what you can't change and finding a way to move forward anyway. All of it matters.

CBT was originally developed for depression and has strong evidence across anxiety, OCD, PTSD, and relationship patterns. I use it most often with people dealing with overthinking, perfectionism, and the kind of self-critical loops that stay loud no matter how much someone accomplishes. If you're not sure whether it fits what you're dealing with, that's a good question for a consultation.

Every session is a little different depending on what you're walking in with. Sometimes we're looking at a specific situation. Something that happened, a thought that won't let go, a reaction that surprised you. We slow it down, map out what was happening underneath it, and figure out what to do with that. Sometimes we're working on something you practiced during the week and what came up when you tried it. It's collaborative and direct. I'm not going to sit quietly and reflect things back at you. We're actually going to dig in..

Yes, and it's one of the things that makes this actually stick. Between sessions you might keep a thought record, track a pattern that keeps showing up, or practice a grounding or mindfulness technique we worked on together. Sometimes the assignment is behavioral. Doing something that matters to you, something you've been putting off or talking yourself out of. The point isn't busywork. It's that the more you practice outside the session, the faster you actually feel different. Most people find it more interesting than they expected.

It depends on what you're dealing with and how long it's been running. Some people come in with a specific pattern they want to address and we can move efficiently. Others are dealing with something more layered, earlier experiences, longstanding relationship patterns, anxiety that won't let up no matter what they try. That takes longer. Everyone's timeline is different.