Cognitve Behavioral Interventions

By Dr. Jan Roberts

Often, I get requests from clients asking if I practice CBT.  What I soon discover is that the potential client has heard the CBT is effective and therefore they need to have a clinician who practices it.  

While I agree that CBT if effective, most clients don't realize that  there are several different waves of cognitive behavioral therapies or interventions.  CBT is only one specific type of cognitive behavioral therapies; there have now been three waves of cognitive and behaviorally-based interventions. Modalities such as EMDR, ACT, DBT, MCBT are all examples of newer cognitive behavioral interventions.  However, depending on the client and their needs, one may be better than the other.

I find cognitive behavioral interventions to be most helpful in treating most conditions, and my expertise has been tapped by NYU to teaching graduate students in these approaches.  Cognitive behavioral therapies are types of therapies that create techniques for understanding how our thoughts influence our feelings and behaviors.  I often work with patients who don’t understand how their experience of the world may be limiting their ability to have joy in their lives or leads the lives they deserve.

I have significant experience with several different cognitive behavioral therapeutic modalities and have even created a CBI modality that I use often with some of my clients.  Many CBT therapists tend to be rigid in their application, focusing on a formulaic model over true connection and meeting the client where they are.  Cognitive behavioral interventions provide evidenced-based positive outcomes meaning that they have proven and tested positive results.

While my work is based largely on cognitive behavioral interventions, I also use Jungian psychoanalytic, psychodynamic, gestalt, and mindfulness-based interventions. What I have found is that no two clients are alike.  As a result, my expertise allows me to pull from different approaches as needed to help the person in full form.