CBT therapy in Boulder, CO

If you've started looking into therapy, you've probably run into the letters CBT everywhere without anyone actually explaining them. So here's the plain version. CBT stands for cognitive behavioral therapy, and the core idea is pretty intuitive once you hear it: your thoughts, your feelings, and what you do are all wired together, constantly feeding one another. When one of them gets stuck in an unhelpful pattern, it pulls the other two along with it. CBT is a way of getting in there and changing the pattern, on purpose.

It's also one of the most researched forms of therapy there is. The American Psychological Association lists CBT among the approaches with the strongest research support for anxiety and depression, which is a big part of why I lean on it. I like knowing that what we're doing in the room has actually been shown to help.

What a session actually looks like

CBT is active. It's less lying-on-a-couch-talking-about-your-childhood and more rolling up our sleeves together. Early on, we get clear on what you want to be different and what's keeping it stuck. Then we build skills: ways to catch and question the thoughts that spin you up, ways to face what you've been avoiding in steps you can actually manage, ways to add back the things that lift your mood. We work as a team, and I'll explain the "why" behind everything, because these are tools I want you to be able to use on your own long after we're done.

You'll usually leave with something small to try before the next session, because that's where a lot of the real change happens, out in your actual life. And to be clear, this isn't about forcing yourself to "think positive" or pretend things are fine. It's about getting your thinking to be more accurate and a lot more compassionate, and getting your actions to line up with the life you want.

What I use CBT for

CBT is my core approach across most of what I treat. I use it for anxiety, where it's especially good at quieting an overactive alarm system, and for depression, where it helps break the low-mood-and-shutdown loop. For chronic stress and adjustment, I often draw on cognitive processing therapy, a form of CBT built specifically for it. I use it alongside motivational interviewing for substance use, and for disordered eating and body image, where it helps with the anxiety and control underneath.

Who it helps

CBT tends to be a strong fit if you want an approach that's practical and goal-oriented, and if you'd rather leave with skills than talk in circles. I use it with teens, college students, and young adults, and I adapt how it looks depending on who's in the room, because it works differently with a guarded 15-year-old than with a stressed-out 23-year-old. If you're a parent wondering whether this approach would suit your kid, that's a great thing to ask about on a consult.