CBT Apps
The Basic Idea
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, is a therapeutic treatment built on three main ideas:
- 1) cognitive activity influences behavior
- 2) cognitive activity can be monitored and changed
- 3) behavioral change can be achieved by facilitating cognitive change1
CBT can help with PTSD, OCD, and anxiety disorders.2 It’s an effective way to address a variety of mental health issues - potentially even more effective than medication or other forms of therapy.3
Through exercises agreed upon by the patient and their practitioner, CBT stresses helping people become their own therapists by developing an array of coping skills to use when symptoms arise.3
Self-guided CBT, available through apps or online, is a viable and effective alternative to traditional in-person CBT. Digital CBT takes advantage of our increasing inclination to search out health information on personal devices.4
Internet-based CBT, or iCBT, is as effective as in-person sessions if the therapist guides the curriculum.5 However, self-guided interventions are not as effective as guided programs. 6–8 As of 2017, there were an estimated 10,000 mental health apps on the market.9
