cognitive behavioral therapy

noun

variants: or less commonly cognitive behavior therapy

Updated on: 21 Apr 2018

Definition of cognitive behavioral therapy

: psychotherapy that combines cognitive therapy with behavior therapy by identifying faulty or maladaptive patterns of thinking, emotional response, or behavior and substituting them with desirable patterns of thinking, emotional response, or behavior —abbreviation CBT

Note: Cognitive behavioral therapy is used in the treatment of various mental and emotional disorders including depression, anxiety, anorexia, and substance abuse. Cognitive therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy are often used interchangeably.

Recent Examples of cognitive behavioral therapy from the Web

Their study showed that cognitive behavioral therapy can be made accessible to people with low literacy and lower educational levels without losing its effectiveness.

— freddie white-johnson, STAT, "Making health research relevant — and less feared — in the Mississippi Delta," 18 Apr. 2018
Furthermore, better integrating medical care with various behavioral health solutions, such as telehealth, EAPs, or computerized cognitive behavioral therapy, may pay off.

— suzanne f. delbanco, Fortune, "Commentary: Why Employers Need to Take Employees’ Mental Health Seriously," 8 Apr. 2018
Only 8 percent got cognitive behavioral therapy, which has been shown to help, and fewer than half are ever prescribed exercise.

— NBC News, "Low back pain the top cause of disability, gets wrong treatments," 21 Mar. 2018
Traditional treatments for insomnia include cognitive behavioral therapy (in which patients keep track of their sleep habits and identify potential triggers for sleep issues) as well as medications.

— carolyn l. todd, SELF, "Charlize Theron Got Cannabis Edibles From Her Mom to Help Her Sleep," 12 Mar. 2018
For chronic insomnia, CR Best Buy Drugs recommends cognitive behavioral therapy as a first-choice treatment.

— Washington Post, "Getting a good night’s sleep can be hard as you age, and sleep aids can pose risks," 6 Mar. 2018
For many pains, a combination of non-opioid therapies — acetaminophen and ibuprofen, as well as nonpharmaceutical alternatives like physical therapy, exercise and cognitive behavioral therapy — works quite well, and carries less serious risks.

— travis n. rieder, Philly.com, "Is it wrong to ask your doctor for opioids?," 23 Feb. 2018
Based on a cognitive behavioral therapy model, LifeSkills Training teaches students about self-improvement, goal-setting, coping with anxiety and anger among other skills.

— shari rudavsky, Indianapolis Star, "Fairbanks Foundation to invest $12M in drug prevention training for Marion County schools," 16 Jan. 2018
Research published since the multimodal study, however, suggests that treating kids who have ADHD with cognitive behavioral therapy can have the same positive effect as stimulants.

— ryan d'agostino, Esquire, "The Drugging of the American Boy," 27 Mar. 2014

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'cognitive behavioral therapy.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of cognitive behavioral therapy

1975

Medical Dictionary

cognitive behavioral therapy

noun

variants: also cognitive behavior therapy

medical Definition of cognitive behavioral therapy

Cognitive behavioral therapy prods patients to do things that will make them feel a sense of accomplishment and connection, and to avoid interpreting situations as being worse than they are.
—David H. Freedman, Discover, January/February 2013

The most scientifically studied technique, cognitive behavior therapy, teaches people to identify and dispute self-degrading thoughts … that can feed on themselves and cause people to sink into despair.
—Benedict Carey, The New York Times, 10 Jan. 2006