The Emotionary No.1 - Contented - A CBT Perspective

Contented

[kuhn-ten-tid] adjective

Contented is like a leather-patched cardigan. A worn floor board. The creased indent on the cushion of a favourite chair. A regional accent. A warm cup of anything. A flat cap. A beard. The mound of a belly. Comfortable jeans. The usual route home. It’s being right here. It’s right that you’re here. It’s you being near. It’s here. It’s here.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) views contentment not as a fleeting emotion or a lucky streak of good circumstances, but as a condition you can cultivate.

From a CBT perspective, our satisfaction with life is dictated by the ‘Cognitive Triad’: how we view ourselves, the world, and other people around us.

To help people begin to find the contentment that they seek, CBT focuses on reframing the lens through which we view these three areas. This is achieved through examining our thinking processes and identifying any unhelpful thinking habits or ‘cognitive distortions’ that may have left us with an unbalanced perspective. At the same time, CBT will also help us to explore our behavioural patterns, helping us to identify any unhelpful behaviours that are present, before introducing strategies to modify these.