Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a talking therapy that can help you manage your problems by changing the way you think and behave. It’s most commonly used to treat anxiety and depression, but can be useful for other mental and physical health problems, as well as to improve our every day life in general.
CBT is based on the concept that your thoughts, feelings, physical sensations and actions are interconnected, and that negative thoughts and feelings can trap you in a vicious cycle. Specifically, it aims to help you deal with overwhelming problems in a more positive way by breaking them down into smaller parts.
Unlike some other talking treatments, CBT deals with your current problems, rather than focusing on issues from your past. While this technique has been criticized by some, it looks for practical ways to improve your state of mind on a daily basis.
Types of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
CBT encompasses a range of techniques and approaches that address thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. These can vary from structured psychotherapies to self-help materials. Today, there are a number of specific types of therapeutic approaches that involve CBT, including:
- Cognitive therapy centers on identifying and changing inaccurate or distorted thinking patterns, emotional responses, and behaviors.
- Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) addresses thoughts and behaviors while incorporating strategies such as emotional regulation and mindfulness.
- Multimodal therapy suggests that psychological issues must be treated by addressing seven different modalities: behavior, affect, sensation, imagery, cognition, interpersonal factors, and drug/biological considerations.
- Rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT) involves identifying irrational beliefs, actively challenging these beliefs, and finally learning to recognize and change these thought patterns.
While each type of cognitive behavioral therapy takes a different approach, all work to address the underlying thought patterns that contribute to psychological distress.
How can CBT help seafarers
CBT is about more than identifying thought patterns, as it is focused on using a wide range of strategies to help people overcome these thoughts, and improve their every day life. With the following techniques, seafarers will be able to identify problems that may keep them distracted from their work onboard, and find ways to deal with them.
#1 Identifying negative thoughts
Seafarers should learn how their thoughts, feelings, and situations can contribute to negative behaviors. While the process can be difficult, especially for people who struggle with introspection, but it can ultimately lead to self-discovery and insights that are an essential part of the treatment process.
#2 Practicing new skills
For every seaman it is important to start practicing new skills that can then be put in to use onboard. For example, a seafarer that has difficulty connecting with others, might start practicing new coping skills and rehearsing ways to try and express their feelings more, and thus communicate with others better.
#3 Goal-setting
Goal setting is a very important step in recovery from mental illness and helping you make changes to improve your health and life. This is very important considering the fact that research shows an increase in suicide attempts among seafarers since the beginning of 2020, in a time when COVID-19 pandemic left thousands of seafarers stranded onboard for prolonged periods away from family, adding to the already emerging issue of crew mental health.
During CBT, a therapist can help with goal-setting skills by teaching you how to identify your goal, distinguish between short- and long-term goals, set SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, time-based) goals, and focus on the process as much as the end outcome.
#4 Problem-solving
Learning problem solving skills is a crucial ability that crew should have. In a fast pace and many times dangerous environment that can be found onboard, seafarers should be able to identify and solve problems that arise, both big and small, and at the same time reduce the negative impact of psychological stressors.
Problem solving in CBT often involves five steps:
- Identifying a problem
- Generating a list of possible solutions
- Evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of each possible solution
- Choosing a solution to implement
- Implementing the solution
#5 Self-monitoring
Also known as diary work, self-monitoring is an important part of CBT that involves tracking behaviors, symptoms, or experiences over time and sharing them with your therapist. Self-monitoring can help provide your therapist with the information needed to provide the best treatment.
For example, for people coping with eating disorders, self-monitoring may involve keeping track of eating habits as well as any thoughts or feelings that went along with consuming that meal or snack. As a matter of fact, unhealthy eating can reduce productivity levels among seafarers by 20%, highlighting the need for shipping companies to ensure seafarers are eating nutritious food.
Potential challenges of CBT
There are several challenges that people may run into during the course of cognitive behavioral therapy.
#1 Change can be difficult
At first, some patients suggest that while they recognize that certain thoughts are not rational or healthy, simply becoming aware of these thoughts does not make it easy to change them.
#2 CBT is structured
Cognitive behavioral therapy is often best-suited for clients who are more comfortable with a structured and focused approach in which the therapist often takes an instructional role.
#3 People must be open to change
For cognitive behavioral therapy to be effective, the individual must be ready and willing to spend time and effort analyzing their thoughts and feelings. Such self-analysis and homework can be difficult, but it is a great way to learn more about yourself.
#4 Progress Is gradual
CBT is a gradual process that helps a person take small steps toward a behavior change. For example, someone with social anxiety might start by simply imagining anxiety-provoking social situations. Next, they might start practicing conversations with friends, family, and acquaintances. By progressively working toward a larger goal, the process seems less frightening.
CBT is often known for the following key benefits:
- It allows you to engage in healthier thinking patterns by becoming aware of the negative and often unrealistic thoughts that dampen your feelings and moods.
- It is an effective short-term treatment option; for example, improvements can be seen in five to 20 sessions.
- It has been found effective for a wide variety of maladaptive behaviors.
- It is often more affordable than some other types of therapy.
- It has been found to be effective online as well as face-to-face.
- It can be used for those who don’t require psychotropic medication.