If you living with a mental health problem, it can be hard to know

如果你有心理健康問題，

which way to turn or what to do to feel better.

可能很難知道要如何做才能讓自己舒服一點。

You might go to your GP and one of the first things they might offer is CBT which stands for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.

你去看醫生，首先他們會給你做認知行為治療。

It combines Cognitive Therapy - examining the things you think

結合認知治療 - 去了解你的想法，

and Behavioral Therapy - examining the things you do.

還有行為治療 - 去檢視你的行為。

The word therapy might make you think of laying on a couch talking to a man with spectacles and a

治療這個詞可能會讓你以為是躺在長椅上，和一個戴著眼鏡的男人說話，

beard about your childhood while he analyzes your dreams.

說關於你的小時候，然後他會分析你的夢。

But CBT is actually a very practical type of talking therapy which focuses on goals and focuses

但是認知行為治療實際上是一種非常實用的談話治療，著重於目標、

mostly on the present day and things that are affecting you in your life now.

著重於現階段影響你生活的日常瑣事。

The theory behind CBT is that the way we think about situations can affect the

認知行為治療的背後理論就是我們的思想會影響我們的感覺和行為。

way we feel and behave. It does this by dealing with how your thoughts affect

這個治療會處理你的思想影響你的感覺和行為，

your feelings and behaviors and teaches you coping skills for dealing with

並且教你如何應對不同問題的技巧。

different problems. For example you might make a simple mistake like burning the dinner.

舉例來說，你把晚餐烤焦了。

This might make you think bad things and it might make you feel

這會讓你感覺很差，覺得自己很沒用，

worthless and inadequate which could lead you to do things like withdrawing,

然後你就放棄、

snapping at your family, or trying to avoid things which you think might go wrong.

遷怒家人、或是避免去做可能會出錯的事情。

Or perhaps you've been invited out for drinks with some friends and you start

或者你可能被一些朋友邀請去喝酒，然後你開始往壞處想。

thinking negative things. This might make you feel anxious and scared which might

這會讓你感到焦慮和害怕，

make you do something like saying no to the invite, avoiding your friends

然後讓你決定做些事，像是拒絕邀請、遠離你的朋友、

completely or using drink and drugs to cope with the situation.

或是藉由喝酒或毒品來應對這種情況。

Over time, whether it's years weeks or months, this cycle of thoughts, feelings and behaviors

隨著時間流逝，無論數年、數週或數月，

may have happened so many times it's become like a habit.

思想、感覺和行為會不斷地循環好幾次，然後就成了習慣。

You start avoiding situations more and more or automatically blame yourself if

你開始避免更多狀況發生，

something goes wrong and the more you do these things,

或是當不好的事情發生時，不自覺地自責自己，

the worse it can get.

你越是這樣做，自己會變得越糟糕。

A CBT therapist will help you break this cycle and figure out what sorts of

認知行為治療師會幫你打破這個循環，

negative feelings, thoughts and behaviors might be contributing to the problems

找出什麼樣的負面情緒、思想和行為可能會助長你所遇到的問題。

you are experiencing. They will help you deal with your negative thinking and

他們會幫助你處理負面思想，

help you change your behavior. Both of which will lead to an improvement in your mood.

協助你改變自己的行為。這兩個做法都會改善你的情緒。

CBT can be helpful for people with nearly every diagnoses you can think of

認知行為治療幾乎可以幫助所有類似狀況的人們，

and can be delivered through one-on-one sessions, in groups, self-help books,

這個過程可以透過一對一、團體、自我學習的書、

online or through a CD-rom.

線上或是光碟的方式治療。

That doesn't mean that CBT works for everyone though. Some people struggle with it because they find it just too hard to

但不代表認知行為治療適用於每個人。有些人很難接受，因為他們很難說出自己的感覺。

talk about their feelings. CBT is usually quite a short-term treatment and so you

認知行為治療通常是短期治療，

may find that your problems are too complex to deal with in the time.

因此你可能會發現自己的問題太複雜，導致無法及時處理。

It can also be quite hard work. Your therapist will probably set you homework

這也可能是非常艱辛的過程。你的治療師可能會給你作業，

and you have to really practice the skills they teach you to see a difference in how you're feeling.

而且你必須確實練習這些技巧，才能看到自己有所不同。

If you don't think CBT is the right treatment for you, you should be

如果你認為認知行為治療不適合你，

able to talk to your GP about what alternatives there are.

你應該要和你的醫生討論找尋其他方式治療。

The Mind website also has lots of information about the different treatments that are available

這個 Mind 網站也有許多資訊是關於不同的治療法，

for a wide range of mental health problems

都是針對廣泛的心理健康問題，

and Mind's Infoline line can also talk to you about what you might find helpful.

而且 Mind 線上諮詢還可以和你討論對你有幫助的內容。