Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) Course

Welcome to the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) Course

Welcome. This is a free, beginner-friendly course in cognitive behavioral therapy, the most widely practiced and most thoroughly researched approach in modern talk therapy. It is written for everyone, not only for therapists and not only for people in treatment, and it assumes no background at all. If you have ever wondered what CBT really is, or wanted to learn the actual skills it is built on, you are in the right place.

CBT rests on one surprisingly practical idea: that it is largely our interpretation of events, rather than the events themselves, that shapes how we feel and what we do. From that single insight grows a whole toolkit of concrete, usable skills, ways to notice the patterns in your own thinking, to test a thought against reality, to reach the deeper beliefs underneath it, and to shift unhelpful habits through action rather than sheer willpower. This course opens that toolkit one tool at a time and teaches each one clearly enough to actually use.

The whole aim is to hand over skills you keep. CBT was designed from the beginning to be practical and teachable, so that over time a person becomes, in a real sense, their own therapist. Everything here is taught faithfully to the work of Aaron Beck, the psychiatrist who founded cognitive therapy, and to the behavioral tradition that joined with it. Each lesson stands on its own, in plain language, with care and sensible cautions woven into the teaching wherever they matter.

The course moves in three parts. Orientation gives you the lay of the land and the one idea everything rests on. The core teachings open the skills themselves, the cognitive tools first and then the behavioral ones. The closing brings the whole toolkit together for everyday life. There is also a bonus lesson on the famous ABC and ABCDE models, the ones most people associate with CBT, which turn out to have an interesting story behind them. Each lesson ends with a practice, so you can begin putting a skill to work rather than only reading about it.

Take it at your own pace, moving in order or jumping to whatever you most want to learn. Start wherever you like below.

Course outline

Click any lesson below to begin.

Orientation Module 1 — What is CBT? Module 2 — Who is Aaron Beck? Module 3 — The cognitive model

Core Teachings Module 4 — Cognitive distortions Module 5 — Socratic questioning and guided discovery Module 6 — Cognitive restructuring Module 7 — Thought records Module 8 — The downward arrow and core beliefs Module 9 — Behavioral activation Module 10 — Behavioral experiments Module 11 — Graded exposure Module 12 — Problem-solving and worry management

Closing Module 13 — Using CBT in everyday life

Bonus Bonus module — The ABC and ABCDE models

---

Disclaimer: Everything IFS Academy is an independent educational platform and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the IFS Institute. These courses, lessons, skills, and practices are offered for educational and self-reflection purposes only. They do not constitute therapy, mental health treatment, clinical training, or crisis support, and they should not be used as a substitute for professional mental health care.

Crisis Support 🚨 If you are experiencing a mental health crisis, feel unsafe, feel at risk of harming yourself or someone else, or feel too overwhelmed to safely use self-directed practices, please pause this material and reach out for immediate support. Contact a licensed mental health professional, call or text 988 in the U.S. or Canada, or use your local emergency or crisis resources.