CBT for Anxiety: Learning How to Identify, Challenge, and Modify Negative Patterns

About 20% of Americans suffer from anxiety disorders, medical conditions that cause excessive fear, worry, and dread out of proportion to real-world experiences. While occasional anxiety is a normal part of life, people with anxiety disorders experience nervousness and dread on a regular basis, with symptoms that can take a huge toll on their quality of life and their physical health, too.

Anxiety frequently centers on negative thought patterns that distort reality and intensify stress. For many people, identifying and “reframing” these patterns through cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a critical part of learning to manage anxiety and lead a happier, more fulfilling life.

At Revival Infusion Madison, Sarah Wilczewski, CRNA, APNP, specializes in helping people manage anxiety, particularly treatment-resistant anxiety. In this post, learn how CBT helps people manage anxiety disorders — and what to do if you need additional help.

The ABCs of CBT

CBT is a structured, goal-oriented form of psychotherapy that focuses on the negative thought processes that tend to underlie and fuel anxiety disorders. Specifically, this type of therapy works by helping patients identify negative thought patterns, challenge their accuracy, and modify them to be more positive and realistic. 

Typically, therapy begins with a review of your symptoms and their effects on your life and your behaviors. In addition to discussing your anxiety symptoms, many therapists recommend journaling to record your thoughts and reactions to the stressors around you to help you become more aware of negative reactions.

Next, CBT therapists work on helping you challenge and replace negative behaviors with more realistic and positive responses through in-office practice and “homework” assignments that help you learn to apply your work in a real-life setting. 

Over time, CBT helps you learn to reframe anxious situations automatically. This type of therapy also works well when combined with medications to help regulate and stabilize brain chemicals associated with anxiety disorders.

Beyond CBT: The important role of ketamine

While CBT is effective for many, it doesn’t work for everyone. In fact, only about 60% of patients with anxiety find real relief from traditional therapies, like CBT and medication. For these patients, ketamine infusion therapy offers a safe, effective alternative. 

Data show that ketamine therapy can be very helpful in managing anxiety, particularly when CBT, anxiety medications, and other traditional approaches fail to provide a meaningful level of relief. Originally developed as an anesthetic, ketamine works on glutamate, a key neurotransmitter involved in learning, memory, and mood regulation.

Ketamine acts rapidly to improve nerve communication and connectivity, helping “reset” nerve pathways associated with anxiety. Many patients experience an immediate reduction in anxiety symptoms, even after a single treatment. Ongoing therapy helps you manage your symptoms indefinitely, providing real relief when other treatments have fallen short.

Break free from anxiety

If your anxiety therapy isn't providing you with the relief you need to feel better, ketamine could be the solution you're looking for. To find out more about ketamine infusion therapy and how it can play a role in your anxiety treatment, request an appointment online or over the phone with the team at Revival Infusion Madison in Fitchburg, Wisconsin, today.