Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is an evidenced-based psychological treatment that focuses on identifying and changing maladaptive thoughts, emotions, and behaviors that trigger, worsen, and/or maintain a range of problems (such as depression, anxiety, addiction, etc.).  Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is a type of psychotherapy that is used to treat patients that need help with their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. While many people think of therapy as diving into deep childhood issues and repressed memory, CBT focuses on finding the solutions today instead of staying stuck processing the root cause of where the problems are coming from. Cognitive-behavioral therapy can treat a vast number of mental health challenges. Some of these include anxiety and panic disorders, depression, substance abuse, and eating disorders. Studies have found that the use of CBT in therapy can help patients reduce and eliminate some health conditions that are not always possible from other forms of therapy.

For example, it has been shown that cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is quite effective for smokers who are motivated to quit.  Because changing your smoking-related behaviors – and restructuring your thoughts related to smoking urges – is essential to quitting, CBT can effectively be applied to smoking cessation.

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is traditionally recognized as the best established treatment for binge eating disorder and the most preferred intervention for obesity, and is useful for individuals to lose weight and keep weight under control for long-term result when reinforced with CBT. From the perspective of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT), the reason isn't hard to find: knowing what to do and knowing how to get yourself to do it are entirely separate skills. When it comes to changing behavior, especially long-term, habitual patterns, getting yourself to do something different, even when you know it's good for you, depends largely on what you tell yourself: that is, on your thinking.

References

David, Daniel et al. “Why Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Is the Current Gold Standard of Psychotherapy.” Frontiers in psychiatry vol. 9 4. 29 Jan. 2018, doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00004

Fordham B, Sugavanam T, Hopewell S, et alEffectiveness of cognitive–behavioural therapy: a protocol for an overview of systematic reviews and meta-analysesBMJ Open 2018;8:e025761. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2018-025761

Haasova M, Warren FC, Ussher M, et al.: The acute effects of physical activity on cigarette cravings: systematic review and meta-analysis with individual participant data. Addiction. 2013, 108:26-37.

Spring B, Howe D, Berendsen M, et al. Behavioral intervention to promote smoking cessation and prevent weight gain: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Addiction. 2009;104(9):1472-1486. doi:10.1111/j.1360-0443.2009.02610.x