If your teenager is affected by depression, their recovery plan may include a range of treatments. One of the more common choices is a teen cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) program. Why is this therapy used so frequently to combat depression? It helps your child make important changes that support effective recovery. Each of these changes contributes to the therapy’s beneficial results in its way. Together, they also have a cumulative benefit. Contact Imagine Fort Collins online or call 888.291.2309 today to learn how cognitive-behavioral therapy can help depression.
Using CBT for Depression to Challenge False Thoughts
Teens and adults affected by depression often experience significant adverse changes in their thinking. That includes such things as:
- A decreased ability to think clearly
- Difficulty making decisions
- A declining ability to think in flexible terms
- Loss of mental self-control
These influences increase the risk of your child becoming attached to distorted thoughts and beliefs. These distortions can help reinforce the illness and keep it active.
In CBT, your child learns how to examine their thoughts, as well as their emotions and behavior. They also learn how to identify the false thoughts and beliefs that often support depression. These abilities simplify the task of undoing those thoughts and beliefs. This way, CBT can help ease the mental health issue’s effects on your teenager.
How a Teen CBT Program Can Help Control Symptoms
The symptoms of major depression tend to recur. In other words, affected people typically experience repeated symptoms over time. One of the common goals of treatment is to reduce the recurrence rate as much as possible. Still, even effective treatment with medication can leave some symptoms relatively untouched, including:
- Sleep disturbances
- Anxiety
- Fatigue
Research shows that cognitive-behavioral therapy can help your teen manage these lingering symptoms. In some cases, the treatment may even help eliminate them.
CBT Can Help Depression By Reducing Relapse Risks
Even when treatment is entirely successful, your child can relapse back into a depressed state. Studies show that CBT can help lower the odds that a relapse will occur. In some cases, it may be considerably more effective than medication. This doesn’t necessarily mean that your child won’t continue their medication use. However, it does further highlight how cognitive-behavioral therapy can help depression.
Making It Easier to Take Depression Medication
There is another crucial aspect of how cognitive-behavioral therapy can help depression. Namely, it can increase the chances that your child will take any medication included in their treatment plan. This can be vitally important. CBT alone may prove effective for mild or moderate depression. However, medication is often needed to treat severe forms of the illness.
Unfortunately, some people in depression recovery fail to take their medication regularly. As a result, they can experience avoidable setbacks in their recovery. By clarifying your child’s thought processes, a teen CBT program can make it easier to take medication as directed. That’s true because it can help your teen recognize the importance of this form of recovery support.
Get Your Teen Started on Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy in Colorado at Imagine Fort Collins
It’s essential to know how cognitive-behavioral therapy can help depression. That’s true, in part, because the therapy may help undo depression’s current effects on your child. It may also help lower the odds that the illness will linger or recur over time.
Want to know more about how CBT can help depression? Talk to the teen mental health and addiction professionals at Imagine Fort Collins. We’re happy to provide more details on this therapy’s many potential benefits for teenagers and help you decide if it makes sense for your child. To learn more, call us today at 888.291.2309 or contact us online.