Cognitive behavior therapy (cognitive therapy, or CBT) is used commonly in psychiatric practice to help individuals change the way they think (called “cognitive restructuring”) and behave in certain situations. Cognitive behavior therapy is a widely accepted therapy that can be used to treat any uncomfortable or destructive habit or practice. It is commonly used to treat addictions, eating disorders, mood swings, stress, relationship difficulties, insomnia, anger, and other conditions.
The term "cognitive" refers to cognitions, or thoughts, and how they may be distorted and lead us to develop inaccurate perceptions of what's going on in the world around us. For example, many people experience anger or anxiety for no outwardly apparent reason, due to their own – perhaps distorted – impressions of events. The "behavioral" component of cognitive behavior therapy focuses on our actions and how these are tied to our thoughts. Integrating the two components allows therapists to work toward weakening the connections between faulty "automatic" thoughts and certain behavioral responses.
Cognitive behavior therapy attempts to control erroneous thought patterns that lead to damaging behaviors. One example of such a pattern might be:
Someone in a meeting at work suggests an improvement to a project you've done. Even though this individual expressed a positive impression of your work and no criticism was intended, you feel attacked and have an automatic "anger response." On your way back to your desk you pick up doughnuts and a cola and wolf them down, fuming. In this case the erroneous thoughts based upon misperceptions (believing you are being attacked) lead to negative, destructive behavior (binge eating).
Cognitive behavior therapy trains the thought-behavior response cycle by reinforcing healthy, rational thinking and appropriate behavioral responses to situations encountered in everyday life.
Unlike traditional psychotherapy and many other forms of therapy, cognitive behavior therapy does not involve lengthy time frames or extensive investigation into past life events. Cognitive behavior therapy is a goal-oriented short-term process, predominantly focused upon the present and future. Most cognitive behavior therapy treatments range from a few weeks to a few months in duration.
Cognitive behavior therapy therapists take an active role in the treatment process, and the patient is usually expected to complete types of "homework" exercises involving reinforcement of positive patterns. Indeed, these "corrective experiences" that occur outside of the therapy sessions are an important part of treatment.
  1. All-or-nothing thinking - Thinking of things in absolute terms, like "always", "every" or "never". Few aspects of human behavior are so absolute. (See false dilemma.)
  2. Overgeneralization - Taking isolated cases and using them to make wide generalizations. (See hasty generalization.)
  3. Mental filter - Focusing exclusively on certain, usually negative or upsetting, aspects of something while ignoring the rest, like a tiny imperfection in a piece of clothing. (See misleading vividness.)
  4. Disqualifying the positive - Continually "shooting down" positive experiences for arbitrary, ad hoc reasons. (See special pleading.)
  5. Jumping to conclusions - Assuming something negative where there is no evidence to support it. Two specific subtypes are also identified:
    • Mind reading - Assuming the intentions of others.
    • Fortune telling - Predicting how things will turn before they happen. (See slippery slope.)
  6. Magnification and Minimization - Inappropriately understating or exaggerating the way people or situations truly are. Often the positive characteristics of other people are exaggerated and negative characteristics are understated. There is one subtype of magnification:
    • Catastrophizing - Focusing on the worst possible outcome, however unlikely, or thinking that a situation is unbearable or impossible when it is really just uncomfortable.
  7. Emotional reasoning - Making decisions and arguments based on how you feel rather than objective reality. (See appeal to consequences.)
  8. Making should statements - Concentrating on what you think "should" or ought to be rather than the actual situation you are faced with, or having rigid rules which you think should always apply no matter what the circumstances are. (See wishful thinking.)
  9. Labeling - Related to overgeneralization, explaining by naming. Rather than describing the specific behavior, you assign a label to someone or yourself that puts them in absolute and unalterable terms.
  10. Personalization (or attribution) - Assuming you or others directly caused things when that may not have been the case. (See illusion of control.) When applied to others this is an example of blame.
More info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_distortion