Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Daily Life

Overview

Explore the process and tools of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) with a professor of clinical medicine and discover how CBT techniques can help you deal with negative emotions every day.

You talk to yourself all day long. We all do. Most of what we say carries no emotional weight, but sometimes, what we tell ourselves affects the very quality of our lives: “Of course I didn’t get that job. My father was right; no one’s going to hire me at my age.” In the 24 compelling half-hour lectures of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Daily Life, Professor Jason Satterfield will help you build your cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) toolbox, giving you the skills you need to change those stories that hold you back and that keep you from experiencing your fullest life possible.

The CBT approach helps us because it’s almost never just the situation that directly affects our emotional health—it’s our thoughts about the situation. No matter what difficulties we face in life, it’s how we address those challenges that makes the difference.

In Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Daily Life, you’ll have the opportunity to be the proverbial fly on the wall of the therapist’s office. As you see actors portraying clients, you see Dr. Satterfield discussing his thoughts about the six clients—explaining what he learns from what they do say and do not say, their body language, their willingness to take on and accomplish homework assignments, and more. He also explains which specific CBT tool(s) he chooses for each of them and why. Since several of these clients are shown in multiple sessions over time, you’ll see first-hand how they benefit from the implementation of CBT in their lives.

These tools and skills will not only help you address problems but will also help you learn to create and savor positive experiences that bring greater happiness, satisfaction, and meaning to your life.

Course Outline

01: A CBT Toolbox: Toward Wise Living

Learn why cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is such a powerful and effective therapy to help you move toward Wise Mind—that state where your emotions and cognition are working together, each from its own strength, to support you in your best possible life. You’ll meet Amanda, David, and Miriam and watch their initial CBT sessions.

Duration: 31 min

02: Laying a Foundation: Assessments and Goals

A full self-assessment is a foundational CBT skill, giving you a good sense of your strengths and areas for improvement. Learn how to access the NIH’s free PROMIS system to collect the data you’ll need for your self-assessment and case formulation.

Duration: 31 min

03: Behavioral Activation: Potent Mood Boosters

Explore the umbrella concept of behavioral activation and learn the important ABCs of behavior—antecedents, behavior, and consequences—to make them work for you.

Duration: 30 min

04: Advanced Behavioral Techniques

Learn about the numerous techniques for somatic quieting and watch as Dr. Satterfield suggests various behavioral activations for both Amanda and David.

Duration: 32 min

05: Capturing Thoughts and Making Connections

Investigate your two distinct systems of cognition and explore how your personal habits of mind have affected your behavior and emotions.

Duration: 30 min

06: Cognitive Restructuring and Thought Records

Learn how to create your own thought record, identifying your triggers, emotions, and automatic thoughts.

Duration: 30 min

07: Worry, Rumination, and Sticky Thoughts

Learn several techniques—from distracting yourself to scheduling official worry time—that can help you redirect your thoughts and avoid rumination.

Duration: 31 min

08: Digging Deeper: Rules and Core Beliefs

Use a new worksheet to identify your deepest beliefs and schemas, as well as your signature strengths.

Duration: 30 min

09: Toolbox in Action: Stress and Assertiveness

Explore blended techniques, using both cognitive and behavioral strategies to practice assertiveness and stress management.

Duration: 32 min

10: Understanding and Managing Emotions

Discover how to identify your primary emotions, their triggers, associated cognitions, and linked behaviors.

Duration: 31 min

11: Key Steps to Solving Problems

Learn about problem-solving therapy and how it can help manage the negative effects of stressful events.

Duration: 30 min

12: Grief, Sadness, and Depression

Learn about the relationships between sadness, grief, and depression, and how CBT can help at all points along the depressive continuum.

Duration: 31 min

13: Panic Attacks and Anxiety

Explore the treatment of exposure therapy and its success rates—the one aspect of CBT you should seek professional help to implement.

Duration: 33 min

14: Addiction and Pain Medications

Learn how CBT can play a significant role in the treatment of substance abuse disorders, particularly when combined with medication-assisted treatment.

Duration: 33 min

15: Embracing Imperfection

Determine which CBT cognitive and behavioral techniques can be helpful in treatment, and watch Amanda as she addresses her own perfectionism.

Duration: 29 min

16: Beating Procrastination

Learn to use your CBT thought record, core beliefs worksheet, and problem-solving therapy to identify ways to reframe tasks.

Duration: 28 min

17: Soothing Rejection, Promoting Connection

Learn about the nature of rejection and which CBT skills can help address habits of mind that work against us.

Duration: 30 min

18: Early Childhood Trauma and Neglect

Explore the ACEs study—Adverse Childhood Experiences—and how CBT can help you rewrite your own story.

Duration: 27 min

19: Managing Chronic Disease

Explore how chronic disease can affect self-image and how CBT can ameliorate many of the habits of mind that affect daily life.

Duration: 32 min

20: Coping with Chronic Pain

Learn which CBT tools can be used to manage the psychological suffering that usually accompanies chronic pain.

Duration: 29 min

21: How to End Insomnia and Finally Sleep

Explore the efficacy of CBT-I (“I” for insomnia) and learn about sleep hygiene and how to keep a sleep log.

Duration: 31 min

22: CBT for the Beginning of the End of Life

Explore the many CBT tools that can be used to work with end-of-life issues.

Duration: 33 min

23: Expanding CBT with Technology

Explore the exciting possibilities of expanding CBT accessibility through technology, including chatbots and mobile apps.

Duration: 31 min

24: Reclaiming and Rewriting Our Stories

Explore how CBT can inform and reshape our stories in constructive ways.

Duration: 30 min