Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is one of the most widely recommended forms of therapy, yet most people either misunderstand it or think it’s a mental bootcamp designed to break them down.

Spoiler: it doesn’t involve deadlifts, sweat angels, or reliving your childhood trauma while doing burpees.

As the world continues to focus on mental health awareness throughout October, following World Mental Health Day, this conversation is timely for anyone seeking better tools to manage anxiety, negative thoughts, perfectionism, or emotional overwhelm.

We unpack the real science behind CBT and show how small shifts in your thoughts can completely transform your emotions, behaviors, and long-term mental resilience.

What's in the episode:

• Why CBT isn't about toughness or emotional bootcamp

• How thoughts trigger feelings and behaviors—and how to interrupt negative cycles

• The most common cognitive distortions (like catastrophizing or all-or-nothing thinking)

• Practical tools like thought records, cognitive restructuring, and behavioral activation

• How to use CBT methods in everyday life to reduce anxiety and self-sabotage

• • How to choose the right therapist and questions to ask during your first session

  
  

  Chapters

• 0:00 – Setting the stage: Why CBT matters right now

  2:15 – What CBT is not (the CrossFit analogy)

  5:30 – The core concept of cognitive behavioral therapy

  10:45 – How thoughts create emotional responses

  15:20 – Identifying cognitive distortions

  21:00 – Tools that rewire your thought patterns

  26:30 – What makes a great therapist fit (and how to ask)

  31:45 – Practical CBT exercises you can start using today

  35:10 – Final encouragement: moving from stuck to aligned

  
  

  Resources & Next Steps

  Visit MentalHealthMadeSimple.life to access tools, upcoming workshops, and resources designed to make mental health concepts easy to understand and apply in everyday life.

  • Please follow and leave a review — it helps more people discover practical mental health tools.

  • Share this episode with someone who is struggling with anxiety or negative self-talk.

  • New episodes drop weekly to simplify mental health, one conversation at a time.