Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) Treatment in Tennessee

What is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)?

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a popular form of evidence-based psychotherapy treatment, and is also known as talk therapy. It includes a structured relationship with a mental health counselor (CBT psychologist or a licensed therapist) and several therapy sessions.

Developed by psychiatrist Aaron Beck in the 1960s, CBT therapy is based on converting negative core beliefs and thought patterns into positive ones. CBT assists you in becoming aware of inaccurate or negative thoughts so that you may better understand and respond to challenging situations.¹

Jump to Section

• What is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)?
• What Does Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Treat?
• How Does CBT Work?
• Goals & Benefits of CBT
• CBT Effectiveness & Success Rates
• The Cost of CBT & Insurance Coverage
• How To Find The Best CBT Provider in Tennessee

What Does Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Treat?

CBT counselling addresses emotional, social, psychological, and relational issues such as depression or anxiety. It can also aid in treating a wide range of mental illnesses, including the following:

• Bipolar disorders
• Eating disorders
• Insomnia
• Mood swings
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
• Phobias
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Sexual disorders
• Schizophrenia
• Sleep disorders
• Substance use disorders

How Does CBT Work?

Cognitive behavioral therapy can be done one-on-one or in groups with family members or others dealing with similar problems.

During a typical CBT session, clients will present a real-life difficulty they are encountering. The CBT psychologist and the client work together to solve this problem. Clients and therapists work together to discover cognitive distortions or false and negative beliefs holding them back. Once identified, positive behavior patterns and true thoughts can replace these distortions.

Ten of the identified cognitive distortions are as follows:²

• Polarized thinking: Also known as all-or-nothing thinking or black-and-white thinking – arises when always thinking in extremes.
• Overgeneralization: Reaching a conclusion about one event and then incorrectly applying that conclusion across the board.
• Catastrophizing: Dreading or assuming the worst when faced with the unknown. Everyday worries can quickly escalate in this distortion.
• Personalization: Taking things personally when they’re not connected to or caused by you.
• Mind Reading: Assuming you know what others are thinking.
• Mental filtering: Tendency to ignore positives and focus exclusively on negatives.
• Discounting the positive: Like mental filters, discounting the good includes a negative bias in thinking. People prone to discounting the positive do not overlook or ignore anything good. Instead, they dismiss it as a fluke or stroke of luck.
• “Should” statements: When people start thinking about what “should” and “ought” to be said or done, it’s a sign of a cognitive distortion.
• Emotional reasoning: The delusion that your feelings are accurate indicators of the truth – that how you feel about a situation is a dependable predictor of reality.
• Labeling: Reducing oneself or others to a single — usually negative — characteristic or descriptor, like “drunk” or “failure.”

Goals & Benefits of CBT

The following are some of the advantages of CBT therapy:

• Improved relationships
• Preventing addiction relapse
• Reduced symptoms of anger, anxiety, and depression
• Gaining coping mechanisms for grief and loss
• Greater management of chronic pain
• More effective methods for overcoming trauma
• Better sleep

CBT Effectiveness & Success Rates

In a review at Boston University, psychologists compared cognitive behavioral therapy response rates to those of other therapies or control conditions in eleven different studies. CBT had higher response rates than the comparison conditions in seven of these studies.³

In addition, several short-term effectiveness studies with follow-up assessments have been conducted. Recovery rates in CBT patients ranged from 52% to 78% 3–15 months after therapy.⁴

Furthermore, until 12 months following treatment completion, cognitive behavioral therapy for anxiety-related disorders is associated with superior results when compared to control settings. Effects were moderate to medium for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and social anxiety disorder (SAD), substantial for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and insignificant or unavailable for other mental health conditions after a 12-month follow-up.⁵

The Cost of CBT & Insurance Coverage

Cognitive behavioral therapy sessions are typically 45+ minutes long and cost between $100 and $200 per session.⁶ Keep in mind that CBT is generally thought of as short-term, with therapy sessions ranging from 5 to 20 sessions.

In most cases, insurance covers a portion of the cost of CBT therapy in Tennessee. However, several factors can influence your out-of-pocket cost, including the treatment location and whether or not the mental health provider is in-network or out-of-network.

Athena Care is in-network with most major insurance plans. Find out more about your insurance coverage by calling your insurance company or contacting Athena Care at 877-641-1155.

How To Find The Best CBT Provider in Tennessee

With Athena Care, gaining access to behavioral health clinics in Tennessee and mental health testing services has never been easier. A care coordinator can assist you with any questions or concerns about cognitive behavioral therapy coverage at one of our various Tennessee locations.

Athena Care health care clinics are open Monday through Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

When choosing cognitive behavioral therapists and mental health professionals, it’s important to ask many questions and to keep the following in mind:

• Education, training, license, and years of experience
  • Depending on their education and role, trained psychotherapists can hold various titles. Most have a master’s or doctoral degree in psychology and have specialized psychological therapy training.⁷ Psychiatrists are medical professionals who specialize in mental health and can both prescribe drugs and conduct psychotherapy.
• Specialties and services offered
  • Ask about the therapist’s expertise and experience treating your specific symptoms or area of concern.
• Treatment methods and philosophies
• Insurance companies they work with
• Office hours
• Pricing
• Session length

Here, you’ll find a list of practitioners organized by city and information about their backgrounds and specialties.