CBT For Coronary Heart Disease
Coronary heart disease is a physical health condition where the blood vessels supplying a person’s heart become narrow or blocked. A diagnosis of heart disease is very distressing to hear and can have a significant effect on the emotional well-being of the person receiving news of their illness.
It’s incredibly important to the long-term health of a person with coronary heart disease to take steps to reduce the physical symptoms of their illness, through prescribed medication and making lifestyle changes such as an improved diet or by quitting smoking.
It is also equally crucial for an individual with cardiac issues to take care of their mental health too, as those who take back control of their emotional health can often see a marked improvement in their physical well-being too.
Coping with the emotional impact of a cardiac condition
Changing behaviours, reducing stress levels and learning to adapt unhelpful thoughts centred on their condition are all ways in which to improve the emotional health of a person with coronary heart disease.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is an evidence-based and effective psychological treatment for an individual with coronary heart disease. Whilst CBT alone cannot change a physical condition, the treatment helps the individual to focus on identifying the negative and unconstructive thoughts that cause emotional distress for an individual with a long-term illness.
By identifying the problematic thought patterns, the client and therapist can challenge those ideas and explore techniques to rethink their condition in a more realistic way.
CBT has been proven to minimise the emotional distress that a complex, life-changing diagnosis can bring. It can help to reduce stress and anxiety, which in turn can help to lessen some of the physical symptoms of coronary heart disease.
How we can help
At Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Interventions we have proven experience in analysing and evaluating our clients individual needs through our verbal counselling sessions. Our aim is to provide the level of support needed to allow our clients to live their lives to the fullest.
We can then define the level of treatment that will help clients to accept their condition and empower them to make positive change following a diagnosis of coronary heart disease.
