In the 1950s and 60s, psychologist Aaron T. Beck noticed that many of his depressed patients held persistent, negative thoughts about themselves, their future, and the world. These weren’t just symptoms—they were patterns that shaped their mood and behaviour. Beck developed Cognitive Therapy to help people identify and challenge these thought distortions.
(Around the same time, Albert Ellis created Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT), which focused on confronting irrational beliefs head-on. It’s good, but it’s not right.)
By the 1980s, these ideas began to merge with behavioural techniques—like exposure therapy and reinforcement strategies—into what we now know as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. I’m convinced that if CBT was given the investment pharmaceuticals had at that stage, mental health issues in many generations to come would have been much easier to treat. As always, big business wins.
CBT gained popularity for its structured, short-term format and strong research backing, becoming the gold standard treatment for conditions like depression, anxiety, PTSD, and more.
At its core, CBT teaches that it’s not events themselves that cause emotional distress, but how we interpret and respond to those events. In other words, your thoughts shape your reality.
The fundamental goal of CBT is to help you identify negative or distorted thinking patterns—like catastrophizing, overgeneralizing, or black-and-white thinking—and replace them with more balanced, realistic thoughts. By doing this, you can shift your emotional responses and make healthier choices in how you act. It’s practical, structured, and focused on the present.
CBT doesn’t dwell endlessly on the past. Instead, it empowers you to become more aware of your internal dialogue and gives you tools to challenge it. Over time, this process can lead to long-term improvements in mood, behaviour, and overall mental wellbeing. Simply put: change your thoughts, and you can change your life.
inner agora 