Evidence-Based Therapy
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) in Colorado.
A practical, skills-based therapy for the thoughts and habits that keep substance use going. We use CBT in both individual and group sessions at The Redpoint Center.
What cognitive behavioral therapy is.
Cognitive behavioral therapy is an evidence-based approach to the thoughts and emotions that keep people stuck. It rests on a straightforward observation: thoughts, feelings, physical sensations, and actions are all connected, and changing one of them ripples into the others. People fall into patterns of thinking and reacting that amplify anxiety or distress rather than settle it. CBT interrupts the pattern.
It is also among the most studied forms of talk therapy there is. The American Psychological Association describes CBT as effective for a range of problems including depression, anxiety disorders, and alcohol and drug use problems, built on the premise that unhelpful thinking and learned patterns of behavior can be unlearned. The National Institute of Mental Health describes the work as becoming aware of automatic ways of thinking that are inaccurate or harmful, questioning them, and changing self-defeating patterns.
At The Redpoint Center we use CBT in both individual and group sessions, as one of several evidence-based therapies in a plan built around you. Part of that work is grounding: teaching healthy behaviors you can reach for in the moment, so a craving or a spike of anxiety has somewhere to go besides the old response.
- Structured and goal-oriented, not open-ended
- Skills you practice between sessions, not just insight
- Delivered one-on-one and in group
- Used across our levels of outpatient care
Where we put CBT to work.
Our CBT program is used in treating a range of conditions and experiences, on its own and alongside other therapies.
Social interaction and reaction
Reading situations more accurately and choosing a response rather than defaulting to one.
Phobias
Facing a specific fear gradually, at a pace you set, until it loosens its grip.
Stress-induced concerns
Naming the pressure points and building coping skills before they compound.
Anger
Catching the physical build-up early and stepping in before it drives a decision.
In Session
How a course of CBT works.
CBT is structured, so the work follows a shape. Your therapist sets the pace with you, but the arc looks like this.
- 1
Notice the automatic thought
You learn to catch the thinking that runs underneath a craving, a low mood, or a flash of anger. These conclusions arrive fast enough, and often enough, that they feel like facts rather than thoughts.
- 2
Challenge it with logic
Your therapist works with you to test that thought against the evidence instead of accepting it. Fresh viewpoints make it easier to see how much of the present is being written by the past.
- 3
Practice the new skill
Practiced between sessionsGrounding techniques and coping strategies get rehearsed in session, then used in real life: with family, at work, in the situations that actually set you off.
- 4
Build the relapse plan
You map the circumstances most likely to lead back to use and decide, in advance and in detail, what you will do instead.
CBT and treating addiction.
Addiction and mental health struggles make your own thoughts and actions hard to steer. CBT, with a qualified therapist alongside you, is one of the most direct ways to get that steering back.
The work starts from your circumstances rather than a generic profile. That means identifying the personal factors that contributed to substance use in the first place, then working to remove the triggers and the self-destructive patterns built on top of them. Much of it comes down to automatic thinking, the assumptions that fire before you have consciously decided anything.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse puts the aim plainly: CBT helps people recognize, avoid, and cope with the situations in which they are most likely to use. That is also why it carries so much weight in relapse prevention. The skills are practical and goal-oriented, and clients practice them with family and friends while still in treatment rather than after it.
The approach holds whatever the substance. We treat alcohol, stimulant, meth, and marijuana use, and we treat co-occurring mental health conditions as part of the same plan rather than a separate one.
When CBT fits, and when something else fits better.
A therapy that works for most people does not work for everyone at every moment. Here is how we think about it.
You want tools, not only insight
CBT is structured and goal-oriented. If you want something you can use this week, that is the point of it.
The same thinking keeps pulling you back
When the same automatic conclusions show up before every relapse or spiral, they are exactly the right target.
You are in crisis right now
Safety comes before any course of therapy. Call or text 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, then let us help you find the right level of care.
Levels of Care
Where CBT fits in your care.
CBT is one of the therapies inside our programs rather than a program of its own. These are the levels it is delivered in.
Questions about CBT.
What is cognitive behavioral therapy?
What does CBT treat?
How long does CBT take?
How does CBT help prevent relapse?
Is CBT done one-on-one or in a group?
How is CBT different from DBT?
The person in the room matters as much as the method.
CBT works because a trained therapist adapts it to your situation, session by session. Every clinician on our team is a licensed or certified Colorado provider.
Margaret McLoughlin
Primary Therapist
Audrey Steele
Primary Therapist
Eric Shaw
Primary Therapist
Augie Truhn
Clinical Program Manager
Chelsea Andrew Devault
Primary Therapist
