Question: What’s the most effective psychotherapy for excessive stress, anxiety, and depression?

Answer: I’m not yet as educated as I could be in different psychotherapy methods for excessive stress, anxiety, and depression. But I do think it is highly dependent on the person and the reason they’re experiencing these things.

CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) has been shown to be incredibly effective for stress, anxiety and potentially depression, and may have been shown to have the highest general efficacy. But I also realize that sometimes people need a variety of different treatments in their life, especially if the source of their anxiety and/or depression is related to trauma.

It also depends on if they have some other underlying or related mental illness such as borderline personality disorder, or even a physical illness that’s causing it.

I do think CBT in all cases can be beneficial in offering the practice of becoming more aware of what your mind is doing and how it snowballs anxious or depressive and unwanted thoughts. It’s just simply that certain cases may need more than just that to help manage their anxiety/depression.

Then there are certain things, depending on how the individual’s brain works, that may lead them to be more receptive to one type of treatment than another. I definitely don’t like to look at any treatment as a one-size-fits-all deal even if their symptoms or issues appear to be perfect for that specific treatment. I am all for individualized solutions which may include one or another type of psychotherapy.

No matter what though, getting the basics covered is important. Exercise, eating well, breathing exercises, tools on how to de-escalate anxiety, proper sleep, making one’s life as stable as possible, helping them feel grounded; these are all important in ANY case.

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