Evidence-based mental health education

Understand the loop.
Learn what changes it.

The CBT Lab turns the science of cognitive behavioral therapy into clear, drawn explanations—so you can see how thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and physiology keep problems going, and where change becomes possible.

Start with the CBT loop Get new drawings
NR Noah Robinson, PhDClinical psychology postdoctoral fellow · New York City
Four systems, always influencing one another.
AnxietyOCDDepressionPanicBFRBsExposure & ERP
Start here

CBT makes more sense when you can see the system.

Instead of treating a feeling as an isolated problem, CBT maps the full loop around it. Each part becomes a place to observe, test, and practice something new.

Explore common loops
  1. 01

    Thoughts

    The meanings, predictions, images, and rules the mind generates—often quickly and automatically.

  2. 02

    Feelings

    The emotions that signal what matters and shape what feels urgent, risky, or worth approaching.

  3. 03

    Physiology

    The body’s alarm, energy, tension, fatigue, and other sensations that feed information back into the loop.

  4. 04

    Behaviors

    What we do, avoid, repeat, or seek from others—and the consequences that teach the loop what to do next.

Common loops

What you’ll learn here

Short explanations that start with a blank page and end with a mechanism you can actually see.

01

How anxiety keeps itself alive

Why avoidance brings short-term relief while teaching the brain to keep sounding the alarm.

Anxiety · Avoidance
02

What OCD really is

How intrusive thoughts, uncertainty, compulsions, and reassurance can lock together into a cycle.

OCD · ERP
03

Why action can precede motivation

How behavioral activation tests depression’s prediction that action must wait for a better mood.

Depression · Activation
04

Safety behaviors & reassurance

The subtle strategies that make a situation feel survivable—but can prevent new learning.

Fear · Learning
05

Panic & body alarms

How ordinary sensations become danger signals and why monitoring the body can amplify the alarm.

Panic · Interoception
06

Habits, urges & BFRBs

How cues, urges, actions, and relief form learned patterns—and where habit-reversal tools fit.

BFRBs · Habits
Coming soon

The CBT Lab podcast

A video-first show that takes each whiteboard deeper—one model, study, clinical question, or expert conversation at a time.

Solo explainersExpert conversationsListener questions
Behind the drawings

Hi, I’m Noah.

I’m Noah Robinson, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in clinical psychology at a specialty CBT institute in New York City. My clinical and research focus includes cognitive behavioral therapy for anxiety, OCD, and depression, including exposure and response prevention (ERP) and other exposure-based approaches.

I made The CBT Lab because the mechanisms behind these conditions are drawable. Everything here is psychoeducation: clear, clinically grounded explanations of how problems can work and how evidence-based treatment approaches them.

Questions & inquiries

What should The CBT Lab draw next?

Send a topic, a general CBT question, or a message about collaboration, media, speaking, or training. Submissions go directly to Noah’s inbox.

This is not a secure clinical or emergency channel. Please do not include private health information. You can also use the dedicated Ask The CBT Lab page.

Your email is used only to respond or to let you know if your question is featured.

Educational content, not treatment.

Everything on this site and in The CBT Lab’s videos and podcast is educational only. It is not therapy, medical or psychological advice, and no professional relationship is created by watching, reading, or submitting a question. If you’re struggling, please reach out to a licensed professional in your area.

If you are in crisis: call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, US), text HOME to 741741 (Crisis Text Line), or call 911. Outside the US, find local resources at findahelpline.com.