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Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and the thought you barely noticed.
A hard feeling often arrives with a quick thought attached, one so fast it slips by unexamined. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) slows that moment down so you can catch the thought, check it against the facts and try a steadier one. For Erin L. Smith, MSPC, LPCC, LPC, CBT is one part of a strength-based, cognitive-behavioral and solution-focused style. Sessions are available in person in Georgetown, KY and by telehealth in Kentucky, Arizona and Minnesota.
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How thoughts, feelings and actions feed each other
CBT rests on a simple observation: what you think in a moment shapes how you feel, and how you feel shapes what you do next. Say a text goes unanswered. The quick thought is 'they must be annoyed'. Your stomach tightens, you go quiet or over-explain, and the distance that follows seems to prove the thought right. No single piece is the whole problem. The loop between them is. Because each part feeds the others, a change at one point, in a thought or in an action, can start to loosen the whole cycle.
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Catching and testing the automatic thought
Automatic thoughts are quick, private verdicts that feel like facts: 'this will go badly', 'everyone noticed', 'there is no point'. In CBT you learn to catch one, write it down and look at it the way a fair friend would. What supports it? What does not? Is it all-or-nothing, a guess about what someone else believes, or the worst case dressed up as the likely one? The aim is not a cheerful replacement. It is a steadier statement that fits the facts better, one you can believe on a hard day.
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The behavioral side of cognitive behavioral therapy
The behavioral half of CBT is about what you do, in small steps. When mood is low, waiting until you feel like doing something can mean a long wait, so behavioral activation reverses the order: choose one modest action, take it, and notice what shifts. When anxiety is in charge, avoidance buys quick relief and slowly shrinks your world, so the work becomes a gradual approach, starting with something only mildly uncomfortable and building from there. With Erin, steps like these are planned together and agreed before you try them.
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Where CBT fits in Erin's work
Cognitive-behavioral is one of three words Erin uses for her style, next to strength-based and solution-focused. CBT can be part of her work with anxiety, depression and OCD, and with trauma, where a painful event can leave a belief behind, such as 'the world is dangerous' or 'people cannot be trusted'. The strength-based side keeps the work from turning into a hunt for faulty thinking. It also notices the times you already talk yourself down from a spiral, because that is a skill worth building on. The solution-focused side keeps goals concrete.
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What a CBT-informed session can look like
The first sessions are for getting to know you: your history, your context and what already steadies you. Once you have agreed on concrete goals together, a CBT-informed hour might begin with a recent moment that went sideways. You slow it down together, find the thought that fired and look at what it led you to do. CBT often includes a small experiment between sessions, and whether that suits you is your call. Erin explains each tool before you use it, asks directly what is helping, and changes course when something is not.
This approach may fit if
- Your mind jumps straight to the worst case
- You want practical tools alongside talking
- Avoidance keeps making your world smaller
- Harsh self-talk sounds like plain fact
Whether CBT suits you is something you and Erin decide together.
Questions
Common questions
- How is CBT different from just talking about my problems?
- Talking is part of it, and with Erin the relationship comes first. CBT adds structure: a focus on specific moments, a shared map of how a thought led to a feeling and an action, and small experiments to try. The aim is skills you can use in the hard moment itself.
- How long does CBT take?
- It depends on what you are working on, and nobody can say honestly before meeting you. Erin does not settle on a number of sessions in advance. She gives honest feedback as you go, and when your goals are met, you plan together for keeping your progress.
- Can I do CBT by telehealth?
- Yes. Psychotherapy with Erin, including CBT-informed work, can happen by telehealth from anywhere in Kentucky, Arizona and Minnesota, or in person in Georgetown, KY. What counts is where you are physically located during the session. A standard session is 60 minutes and $150, billed to insurance where Erin is in-network, or self-pay.
In Erin's words
What she would say if you called today.
If CBT becomes part of our work, I will explain why before we start, and we will choose the moments to work on together. I want to hear plainly what is helping and what is not. When something is not working for you, we change it rather than pushing through.
Free 15-minute consultation
Book a consultation with Erin
Fifteen minutes by telehealth, at no charge. You can describe what is going on, ask how Erin works, and decide afterward whether to book a first session. Scheduling opens in her secure SimplePractice portal.
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