What is behavioral health?
Behavioral health practices look at how your thoughts and feelings affect the way you act.
"Behavioral health" is a broad term that covers mental health, lifestyle, substance use, behavior patterns, relationships, and more.
Behavioral professionals assist individuals in understanding their thoughts, emotions, and stress responses, helping them manage these in healthy and safe ways. This support can help with overcoming addictions, changing habits, and preparing for life’s challenges.
Behavioral health therapy can help people at various life points. People going through tough times like divorce or losing a loved one often find therapy helpful for their mental health.
Behavioral therapy is also helpful for people with diagnosed mental health conditions like depression, bipolar disorder, personality disorders, and anxiety.
What is the meaning of behavioral health?
“Behavioral health” is a broad term that covers mental health, lifestyle habits, addictions, substance abuse, stress, crises, and more.
The word "behavioral" is used because this area of health looks at how thought patterns and learned emotional reactions influence how people respond to everyday situations.
Behavioral health experts can better support someone in quitting drinking by helping them recognize the thoughts, feelings, and stress that lead them to use alcohol as a way to cope. The expert can then work with them to find healthier ways to deal with those thoughts, feelings, and stress.
What is the difference between mental health and behavioral health?
The terms "behavioral health" and "mental health" are sometimes used in place of each other, but they aren't exactly the same. Behavioral health care looks at the actions a person takes. A behavioral health check often includes a close look at a person's mental health, but the goals and focus of treatment usually differ from those in a mental health program.
A mental health treatment plan usually targets symptoms like mood swings, paranoia, anxiety, low energy, mania, and delusions, while a behavioral health treatment plan deals with issues like substance abuse, neglecting personal hygiene, unhealthy eating habits, trouble with relationships, and social isolation.
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Examples of behavioral health therapies and practices
Various kinds of behavioral health therapies and practices are available. Healthcare professionals might choose different types to address various concerns or work with different groups of people.
For Example, Cognitive behavioral play therapy is a special kind of therapy for kids that uses play to teach them communication and coping skills. It also helps kids and their caregivers learn to talk to each other better.
Other common types of behavioral health therapies include:
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT): CBT helps with many issues by showing how your thoughts affect your feelings and actions, and teaching you how to develop better thinking patterns for a better life. In sessions, you can work with your therapist to find solutions to your problems.
Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT): ACT is a therapy that uses mindfulness to help people change how they act and think. Its aim is to teach acceptance and flexibility so people can handle new and challenging situations better.
Dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT): DBT is mainly used for borderline personality disorder, but it can also help with many other issues. It teaches skills for managing emotions, improving communication with others, and handling stress to enhance overall well-being.
Exposure therapy: Exposure therapy is a treatment for anxiety and trauma. It involves safely exposing people to things they fear so they can learn to handle the situation and their fear.
Who can benefit from behavioral health therapies?
Behavioral health therapy can be very helpful during tough times, such as dealing with job stress, going through a divorce, managing an illness, facing family issues, or coping with the loss of a loved one.
Behavioral health therapy can also be useful for many diagnosed conditions, including:
depression
postpartum depression
anxiety
bipolar disorder
BPD and other personality disorders
ADHD
trauma
post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
substance misuse disorders
disordered eating conditions
anger management conditions
Takeaway
Through behavioral therapy techniques like CBT, DBT, and ACT, people can discover how to manage their thoughts and emotions and build healthy habits in response.
This can help overcome addictions, address disordered eating, manage tough family dynamics, alter harmful stress reactions, improve coping skills, and more.
Need help managing stress or overcoming challenges? Get in touch with a Malayali psychologist at Koott for expert online counselling. We're here to support you through difficult times, improve your coping skills, and guide you towards a healthier, happier life. Contact us today to start your journey!
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