Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is a form of therapy that focuses on the client's cognitions: thoughts, phantasies, memories and evaluations of events.

Cognitive Baharioral Therapy works from the assertion that it is not an event that causes a person to have negative feelings and undesirable behavioral patterns but rather the subjective experience and evaluation of that event. When someone learns to recognize and reinterpret these negative or irrational thoughts and beliefs, the negative feelings and evaluations will be replaced by more positive feelings and more desirable behavior.

Cognitive therapy is a common form of counseling. It is a structured kind of therapy that is meant to focus on the present and future. Together with the counselor the client discovers what their "erroneous" beliefs and interpretations might be.

By learning to replace these dysfunctional beliefs and learning to reinterpret events in a more rational way , the client develops a more objective perspective on their own feelings and observations, allowing them to process their negative feelings and change their behavior.

The counselor applies specific cognitive exercises and homework assignments to help the client to develop a more realistic view and more realistic beliefs about themselves and occurrences.  

By combining therapy sessions with training in the "real world" and homework, the client will gradually develop new thoughts and more positive behavior.