Brenda Barrass

When you attend a session for the first time I will ask you lots of questions so I have a good understanding of the problems you wish to work on and what you would like to be different and how ready you feel to make changes.  I can also answer any questions or concerns you may have about therapy.  This initial process may take one or two sessions depending on your history and the type of problem you wish to work on.

We will develop an understanding of the problem, what is contributing to it and what could help you to tackle it more effectively.  This process not only happens during the sessions, it continues between sessions where you may do some reading, recording and trying things out as agreed between us.

Our sessions will be structured and we will agree what we will be focusing on at the beginning of each session.  However CBT is not a rigid therapy and if there is something you feel is important to discuss then we can be flexible and accommodate exploring things that arise during or between sessions.  

We would normally meet weekly at the beginning of therapy and then, when you feel you are making good progress and can put into practice what you have learned, we can meet fortnightly.  We can also have follow up sessions to support you to stay on track.  We can negotiate together what would be most helpful for you and your circumstances.

We will have regular reviews of your progress and satisfaction with your treatment and to ensure we are on track with working on the problems that you want to address.

CBT is informed by a large and increasing body of evidence to support it and, from my own professional experience as a CBT therapist, I know that CBT can help a large number of people with a wide range of problems.  If, however, I do not believe that this form of therapy would be helpful for you at this point in time then I would discuss this with you and signpost you to other forms of help that may be available.

Please see FAQs section for other information.