CBT-based Therapies
Therapies in the Cognitive Behavior category aim to update false beliefs that distort your perception and create unpleasant emotions and behavior. It's used for stress, anxiety and unhappiness. There are various ways by which you can locate the beliefs that drive your experiences and replace them with correct, functional ones.
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Sub types of CBT-based therapies
Click the subtype you find most appealing to read more details about this technique and comparisons with other subtypes.
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Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT)
REBT focuses on identifying and disputing irrational beliefs that lead to negative emotions and maladaptive behaviors. Developed by Albert Ellis, this therapy emphasizes the role of cognitive restructuring in changing irrational thought patterns. By challenging and replacing these beliefs with more rational and constructive ones, individuals can achieve emotional well-being and behavioral change.
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Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)
MBCT integrates mindfulness practices with cognitive therapy techniques to help individuals become more aware of their thoughts and feelings in the present moment. This approach is particularly effective in preventing relapse in individuals with recurrent depression. By cultivating mindfulness, a clients learn to observe their thoughts without judgment, reducing the impact of negative thinking patterns.
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Schema Therapy
Schema Therapy targets deep-seated patterns or themes (schemas) that develop during childhood and influence current behavior and relationships. These schemas are pervasive and can lead to chronic emotional and relational issues. The therapy aims to identify and modify these maladaptive schemas through cognitive, behavioral, and experiential techniques. While REBT is more focused on your current thoughts, Schema therapy digs to the layers beneath it.
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Metacognitive Therapy (MCT)
MCT focuses on understanding and modifying the thought processes (metacognitions) that contribute to psychological disorders. Instead of targeting the content of thoughts, MCT addresses how individuals relate to their thoughts, such as their beliefs about the uncontrollability or danger of certain thinking patterns. By changing these metacognitive beliefs, individuals can reduce symptoms of anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues.
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Dialectic (Socratic Questioning)
This approach employs Socratic questioning techniques to help individuals challenge and reframe their distorted or unhelpful thoughts. By engaging in a guided dialogue, clients learn to critically evaluate their beliefs and assumptions, promoting more balanced and rational thinking. They learn this through discovering inconsistencies in their beliefs and contemplating upon it.
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Return to the therapies overview
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Critique from other categories
One effective way of understanding how a certain therapy type relates to other types, is by looking at it through the eyes of the other therapy types, as each has it's own idea about the mechanism to get from A to B. The critiques below will help you in comparing your options. Click the name to read more about this therapy.
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​Psychodynamic Therapies: Critique CBT for focusing on surface-level symptoms without addressing deeper unconscious conflicts or historical roots of the problem.
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Humanistic and Existential Therapies: Argue CBT is too structured and reductionist, failing to fully appreciate the complexity of the human experience and individual meaning-making.
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Exposure Therapies: May view CBT as overly focused on cognition when direct behavioral change is often more effective and efficient.
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Systemic and Family Therapies: Claim CBT neglects relational and systemic influences, focusing too narrowly on the individual.
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Mindfulness and Acceptance-Based Therapies: Criticize CBT’s emphasis on changing thoughts rather than accepting them, potentially reinforcing avoidance of discomfort.
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Somatic Therapies: Suggest CBT downplays the role of the body and physiological states in emotional and psychological distress.
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Direct Neural Rewiring Therapies: Critique CBT for focusing too much on conscious thought patterns and beliefs while neglecting the neurobiological roots of trauma and distress.
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NLP: Argues that CBT lacks flexibility and fails to incorporate creative, intuitive, and sensory-based approaches, which NLP emphasizes as critical for meaningful change.
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Ego Awakening Techniques: Critiques CBT for reinforcing the ego by encouraging individuals to "fix" their thoughts, rather than dissolving identification with thought entirely.
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Breath-oriented Techniques: Critiques CBT for neglecting the physiological and autonomic nervous system regulation that is central to emotional and mental well-being.
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Body-stimulation Techniques: Suggest that CBT fails to incorporate physical interventions or body-focused techniques that can help release emotional trauma stored in the body.
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Psychedelic-oriented Protocols: Critique CBT for not utilizing altered states of consciousness or psychedelic experiences, which can facilitate deeper emotional healing and transformation.
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About Bukuru
The core philosophy of Bukuru is that each person should test their own beliefs. The project started as a quest to categorize self-development books in such a way that it would become easier to find books that match your beliefs. However, along the way we concluded that the essence of most books can be captured in a few sentences – if the idea is original at all. Instead of helping people buy books, we now help people not buying books.
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