Which statement about CBT is most accurate?

• A. It changes attitudes and behaviors
• B. It is not time-limited
• C. It changes patterns of thinking or behavior
• D. It ignores behavior

Answer: (C)

CBT centers on how our thoughts shape our emotions and actions, and it aims to change those patterns by identifying distorted or unhelpful thinking and testing it against evidence. When you learn to shift these thinking patterns, you naturally change the behaviors that follow them. That combination—altering how you think and how you act—best captures what CBT is about, making the statement that it changes patterns of thinking or behavior the most accurate.

In practice, CBT is usually structured and time-limited, with concrete techniques and homework that target both thoughts and actions, such as challenging automatic thoughts, behavioral experiments, and activity scheduling. It does not ignore behavior, and it’s not typically framed as a broad, long-term attitude-change approach.