Brenda Barrass

Cognitive behavioural therapy for beginners

CBT is a psychological approach to help you have more understanding of what is contributing to your difficulties and to learn new ways of responding that will improve your wellbeing and ability to cope.  This is done by looking at what happens when you experience a problematic situation  and the interactions between:

how you think (the cognitive bit)
    ↓
how you feel both physically and emotionally
    ↓
how you react (the behaviour bit)

...which can become a vicious cycle  making you feel stuck.  The aim of CBT is to look at these 3 aspects in detail and work out how to manage unhelpful thinking and behavior to reduce distress and lead a more satisfying life whatever your circumstances.

CBT is a proactive therapy and in addition to having time to discuss your difficulties we will be looking together at what to do to overcome them.  This will involve you trying out new things, such as challenging or relating differently to your unhelpful thoughts, trying different ways to respond to situations or monitoring yourself between therapy sessions.

CBT is a time limited therapy, usually between 4 -12 sessions, however some people may require less and others more depending on the complexity of the problems.  Your treatment will be reviewed with you usually every 4 weeks and we would monitor your progress as we go along.

It is a therapy that focuses primarily on how your problems are affecting your life now but if appropriate we would also look at the past to gain some understanding of how your difficulties may have developed and what is maintaining them in the present.

CBT is a well researched therapy and is the treatment of choice in the NHS and approved by NICE for a wide range of psychological and emotional problems.