Cognitive Triangle

The cognitive behavioral therapy triangle!

A therapists best friend. I’m going to have this printed and posted because I draw it so much. Its a very simple concept in theory, but takes a lot of persistence and hard work in practice.

If you think of therapy as a fitness guide for your mind (which I often do) using the CBT triangle is like when a fitness guru says

“yeah the way to get fit is to work out every day and eat healthy”

me: “but that takes a long time and can be unpleasant”

Fitness guru: “…yup”

Same with your mental health. The idea behind CBT is that you need to be aware of how your thoughts are impacting your behavior and feelings, how your feelings are impacting your thoughts and behaviors, and how your behaviors are impacting your thoughts and feelings. Ok, so thats already kind of a lot. And then, you need to start making changes to the thought, behavior, and emotional patterns you have developed over the past several years. Just like making nutritional changes and exercise changes, this can take time and is a slow process if you want it to stick. But just like when you take care of your physical health, just by the acting of taking care of your mental health you start to feel better. Just the act of being aware how all these things are connected makes you feel more empowered and in control of your mental health.

I once heard someone say that if our bodies were as disciplined as our minds we would be unknowingly walking into the middle of the road and running into walls. The CBT triangle is a great visual cue on how we can discipline our minds a little more in order to positively impact our emotions and behaviors.