Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Highest Standards, Nationally Recognized:

What is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy?

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is an effectively demonstrated therapy developed by Dr. Aaron T. Beck. According to Dr. Beck, CBT addresses the conversation which takes place in the unconscious mind that impacts behavior either positively or negatively.

Cognitive behavioral therapy is thought to be effective in the areas of relationships between thoughts, feelings, behavior and emotion.

Cognitive behavioral therapy explores patterns of thinking which lead to self-destructive behavior. For example; if someone is given an ice cream cone, their reaction could either positive: “What a great gift; I love ice cream cones!” Or their response could be negative: “They shouldn’t have given this to me; I’m too fat to eat ice cream cones.” The negative response could lead to anxiety, mood disorder, substance abuse or psychotic disorders.

Exploring Reactions to Outside Stimuli

At Avalon Malibu, CBT allows the therapist and clients to actively work together focusing on the here and now to help in the recovery process. Cognitive behavioral therapy searches for patterns of thinking which have a negative impact on behavior, and seeks to modify those thought processes to reflect a positive self-image. It explores reactions to outside stimuli and helps the client uncover and recognize unhealthy thoughts more readily, and actually change them as they occur.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Integrated into Residential Treatment

Upon arrival at Avalon Malibu, clients are emotionally exhausted, they have sleeping disorders, they’ve severed ties with family and friends, they’ve lost social connections and jobs, and in many cases, they’ve been hospitalized and diagnosed with anxiety, major depression, or mood disorders. With cognitive behavioral therapy incorporated into our residential treatment program, we strive to help our clients control and change their way of thinking, acting and feeling, using individual one-on-one therapy and group interaction within a beautiful, peaceful setting.

Reluctance to Engage in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Some clients may be reluctant to engage in cognitive behavioral therapy due to past experiences, past failures, skepticism, misunderstanding or stigma. CBT presents little risks even though it can be uncomfortable at times dealing with painful emotional conflicts and memories. Avalon Malibu therapists are trained to help.

We assist our clients in discovering the root of negativity within the self using human interaction, nature, excellent nutrition and self-exploration. Our fundamental goal is for self-discovery, helping to undo patterns of addiction and mental illness.

Clients are Taught:

They are taught principles that will allow them to gain strength through conflict.

Using cognitive behavioral therapy, Avalon Malibu’s staff will focus on specific problems to identify certain goals in order to maintain an easy-to-follow program for our clients. We will guarantee peace and comfort throughout each client’s stay, with continuous communication for an accurate understanding of any disagreement or discomfort. We seek to serve the recovery community as a whole by immediately resolving any issue.

  • coping skills
  • understanding and managing stress
  • managing anger
  • understanding fear
  • dealing with remorse

What Should Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Accomplish?

Cognitive behavioral therapy at Avalon Malibu is used to accomplish the following goals.

It will allow our clients to identify problem areas in their lives, including such conditions as:

  • substance abuse
  • grief
  • anger
  • mental illness

It will reveal which thoughts, emotions and beliefs enhance the problem areas of their lives. By encouraging them to share these thoughts with others for a new interpretation, they can begin changing actions and behavior and start working toward more positive outcomes.

It will also challenge negative thinking by testing the accuracy of those thoughts and thereby changing the client’s perception of what’s really behind the original negative perception.

We care about the individual at our Avalon Malibu residential treatment facility. All of the above steps and more should result in an effective treatment, giving our clients more strength to cope with unhealthy situations and causing them to feel better about themselves and their lives as they move forward.

We will work with most out of network PPO and POS policies

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