Are You Suffering From Any of These Symptoms as a Result of Tinnitus? Call Today for a Consultation.
■ Mild to severe anxiety
■ Depression
■ Insomnia
■ Negative thinking
■ Triggered fight or flight
■ Crying spells
■ Hopelessness
■ Ringing in the ears
■ Suicidal thoughts
Are you growing more isolated? Do you feel like life will never be the same? Are you refraining from activities that you enjoy? Are you fearful of losing your job? Do you find that your thoughts tend to be negative?
If you answered yes to 3 or more of these questions or symptoms, then we can help. You may be a candidate for Tinnitus Cognitive Retraining Therapy, or TCRT.
With over 20 years of clinical experience, Stephen Geller Katz, LCSW-R developed Tinnitus Cognitive Retraining Therapy and founded the Tinnitus Cognitive Center™ in response to the growing number of Tinnitus sufferers coming to his private practice.
He discovered that by helping people to retrain and reinterpret the thoughts around their Tinnitus, anxiety and depression symptoms began to improve. But even more important so did the Tinnitus.
In this article, we’ll explore how CBT can help you master the mental battle of tinnitus and find the peace you’ve been seeking. Living with tinnitus can feel like an endless battle, where the constant ringing or buzzing in your ears becomes not just a physical nuisance but a persistent mental one. The noise may seem inescapable, but there is hope. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), offered by tinnitus treatment specialist Stephen Geller Katz, LCSW-R, can be a game-changer in your journey toward tinnitus relief.
Understanding Tinnitus
Tinnitus is a condition characterized by the perception of sound when no external source is present. It can manifest as ringing, buzzing, hissing, or other noises, and it affects millions of people worldwide. While tinnitus has physical origins, the way we perceive and react to it is highly influenced by our mental and emotional state.
The Mental Toll of Tinnitus
The relentless nature of tinnitus can take a toll on your mental health. Constant noise in your head can lead to anxiety, stress, and even depression. Sleep disturbances caused by tinnitus can exacerbate these issues, creating a cycle of distress that seems impossible to break.
CBT: A Powerful Tinnitus Treatment
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, is a therapeutic approach that focuses on changing negative thought patterns and behaviors. It has been proven effective in treating various mental health conditions, and it can be equally powerful in the context of tinnitus. CBT for tinnitus primarily aims to address the emotional and psychological aspects of the condition. It helps you reframe your thoughts about tinnitus, reducing the anxiety and distress it causes. Here’s how it works:
Identifying Negative Thought Patterns
During CBT sessions, you’ll work with a trained therapist, such as Stephen Geller Katz, to identify the negative thought patterns and beliefs you have about your tinnitus. These may include catastrophic thinking, such as believing that tinnitus is a sign of a severe medical issue, or feeling hopeless about ever finding relief.
Challenging and Restructuring Thoughts
Once these negative thought patterns are identified, CBT helps you challenge and restructure them. You’ll learn techniques to replace anxious or pessimistic thoughts with more balanced and realistic ones. Over time, this process can reduce the emotional distress associated with tinnitus.
Behavioral Techniques
CBT may also incorporate behavioral techniques to help you manage tinnitus-related stress and anxiety. These techniques can include relaxation exercises, mindfulness, and stress-reduction strategies that can improve your overall well-being.
Why Choose Stephen Geller Katz, LCSW-R?
When seeking CBT for tinnitus, it’s crucial to work with a specialist who understands the unique challenges of this condition. Stephen Geller Katz, LCSW-R, is a highly experienced tinnitus treatment specialist who has helped numerous individuals regain control over their lives. With his expertise, compassionate approach, and extensive background in cognitive behavioral therapy, Stephen Geller Katz is dedicated to helping you transform your relationship with tinnitus.
Tinnitus with CBT: Contact Us for Tinnitus Treatment Services
If you’re ready to take control of your tinnitus and master the mental battle, contact the Tinnitus Cognitive Center™ today. Reach out to Stephen Geller Katz, LCSW-R, at 646-213-2321. All sessions are conducted online, ensuring that you can access the support you need conveniently.
Don’t let tinnitus continue to disrupt your life. With CBT from Stephen Geller Katz and the Tinnitus Cognitive Center™, you can find relief and regain your peace of mind.
Contact Information
Tinnitus Cognitive Center™ Stephen Geller Katz, LCSW-R 646-213-2321
All sessions are conducted online. Multiple languages spoken
What is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and can CBT exercises help with sound disorders? Oftentimes, you may feel trapped in your negative thoughts, which leads to destructive behaviors and mental conditions untreatable by over-the-counter medicine. The enticingly perceptive nature of the brain interferes with mental hearing disorders and many other such conditions.
In these instances, CBT or cognitive behavioral therapy is the best solution. Unlike other therapies, it is the psychoanalysis of your brain and consciousness. It helps you uncover some of the underlying truths about yourself.
What exactly is CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy)?
You can partake in several different types of CBT since it has applications in different kinds of conditions. However, the goal of this therapy ultimately stays the same. It encourages people to differentiate between reality and their subconscious interpretation of it so that they can feel better.
It studies your feelings, your thoughts, or in other words, cognition, and behaviors. The therapist’s job is to look at how the feelings, cognition, and behaviors intercede with each other and interact to produce the resulting behavior.
Our feelings strongly influence our thoughts, behaviors and can also alleviate or amplify a certain sensation if you do not stabilize them. Similarly, our thoughts also play a key role in our behavior towards certain stimuli.
Cognitive Behavior therapy tries to unveil the shadowing voices inside your mind that hinder your decision-making and lead to destructive behavior. It is an evidence-based therapy, which means that there is proof for its effectiveness.
It emphasizes how simply changing a thought process can help you overcome the challenges in your life. These improvements can stem from deep physiological changes in your body. You will find many different techniques that fall under the umbrella of CBT.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy CBT Exercises
The primary and most dominant way to participate in CBT is interactive sessions with a trained practitioner. However, other techniques do not involve a psychoanalyst. You can perform them yourself without the help of others.
Cognitive Restructuring
This technique involves the help of the therapist to observe you while you take them down on the stroll of all your negative emotions and thoughts. In other words, it is the dissection of your thoughts, not just by the therapist but also, more importantly, by yourself.
In this technique, the main aim of the therapist is to make you realize the destructive outcomes that are manifesting from your negative thought pattern. They try to make you better identify your negative emotions before they emerge and take over your mental wellbeing.
Exposure Therapy
This CBT technique works best for people that suffer from cognitive hearing disorders such as tinnitus or phobias and fears. The idea of exposure therapy is to desensitize you from situations that cause a drastic response from your side.
This technique is arguably the most provocative than the rest; however, the therapist sets the limit of exposure, starting small and gradually increasing the intensity for the best results. Tinnitus patients can expose themselves to triggering sounds every day for a couple of weeks for treatment.
Journaling
Journaling also refers to recording your everyday thoughts and feelings in writing. This technique may or may not involve a therapist. Writing down your emotions and thoughts is a therapeutic retreat and helps gives you a perspective on your thoughts and feelings.
Moreover, it makes you identify the subtle environmental nuances that may be triggering a mental response.
Guided Discovery
In this CBT exercise, the therapist has the biggest responsibility. They have the job of unraveling the deepest thoughts that linger at the back of your mind. They put themselves in your place and try to resonate with the subconscious workings of your brain.
It involves a series of questioning and reasoning to uncover different perceptions of your problems and resolve some of the root causes. A guided discovery can ultimately be pivotal in helping you make better life choices and escape the behavioral patterns that lead to your demise.
CBT is an emphatically effective therapy, whether in conjunction with other therapies and medication or alone. It has proven to help with chronic illnesses, disorders, and mental conditions. These include:
Anxiety
Depression
Hearing disorders
Chronic Pain
Addictions
OCD
Phobias
Sleep Disorders
Tinnitus
Eating disorder
PTSD
Sexual Disorders
CBT is one of the few therapies in which you, as an individual, have to take the initiative. It can be uncomfortable at the start because exposing your deepest and darkest secrets does not come easy. Similarly, exposure therapy may result in an intuitive and unwanted response. However, with the right practitioner, the risks can reduce greatly.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy CBT Exercises: To Conclude
Tinnitus is an unusual and unwavering perception of sound without the presence of an existing sound. It is one of the few hearing disorders that CBT helps improve.
If you or your loved one suffers from this dreaded condition, schedule an online session with Stephen Katz at the Tinnitus Cognitive Center™ in New York. Call us now for a consultation at 646-213-2321.
Tinnitus Cognitive Center™
Stephen Geller Katz, LCSW-R 19 West 34th Street Penthouse Floor New York, NY 10001