Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

CBT is based on the idea that thoughts, feelings, physical symptoms and behaviours all impact on each other, causing a vicious cycle.

CBT aims to break difficulties down and understand how they are being maintained, then puts tools in place to help you make changes to improve how the problem affects you. 

CBT is different to some other talking therapies, as it deals with problems in the here and now, rather than looking back into the past.  

CBT aims to put practical techniques in place to help improve how you feel.

You will usually have an appointment once a week or once a fortnight, but this can vary as treatment progresses. The number of sessions varies, but is usually between 6 and 20 sessions, with each session being up to 50 minutes in length (again this will vary depending on each person). You and your therapist will try and understand your difficulties by breaking down each problem to understand how it is being maintained.  You will then discuss different tools to help you change unhelpful thoughts and behaviours. After agreeing what tools may help, you will be asked to practise them in your daily life and your progress will be reviewed in each session. The overall idea is that you will then have the tools you need to use each day, and you won’t need to attend sessions any more.