What is CBT
More information about Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is a form of psychological therapy which can help you manage your mental health difficulties by breaking them down in to smaller parts.
‘Cognitive’ refers to the thoughts you have about yourself, other people, and the world around you. CBT will help you understand how your thoughts, attitudes and beliefs may affect how you feel, and subsequently your behaviour. ‘Behavioural’ then refers to what you do or don’t do because of how you are thinking and feeling.
Together with your therapist you work to understand how your thoughts, emotions and behaviours are interconnected and keep your symptoms going. This is also known as the ‘vicious cycle’. Once you and your therapist have a shared understanding of the vicious cycle, together you will start to devise some goals for change.
CBT is a goal orientated therapy, hence you and your therapist will identify areas within your thoughts and behaviours that you wish to change in order to feel better and achieve your goals. CBT differs from other psychotherapies as it has a focus on promoting change in the ‘here and now’.
You will engage in strategies covered in sessions to form ‘Action Plans’ for the following week between your sessions, which will support you to make the changes you desire to your everyday life. This means for CBT to be effective you must be committed to completing the action plans outside of therapy sessions, which may be time consuming but compliment your therapy and recovery.
CBT is shown to be most effective when skills are practiced between sessions. The aim of this is to enable you to become your own therapist, and enhance your ability to identify triggers and unhelpful cognitive behavioural patterns which precede your mood states. These skills help you to break the ‘vicious cycle’ for good. The focus of CBT change methods utilised in your therapy will depend on the presenting problem you are experiencing and will be customised to your individual needs.
Does CBT look at my past?
CBT has an emphasis on improving your symptoms in the here and now to get you feeling better. You may spend some sessions looking at some of your relevant past experiences which may play a role in how you are currently feeling (if this is in line with your therapeutic goals). Depending on the nature of your difficulties, some of the CBT sessions may look at memories you have from your past which are still causing you distress.
What do the weekly action plans involve?
There is always a rationale for doing specific tasks outside of the session which will be explained by your therapist. The kinds of action plans completed outside of sessions vary between clients and depends on the problem. Typically, action plans build on the skills you cover in sessions to improve your mood. Examples may involve: identifying unhelpful thinking patterns and challenging thoughts in your everyday life, or, experimenting with changing unhelpful behaviours which have been identified to keep your problem going. You will record the outcomes of all your action plans to monitor if they are making you feel better, and/or getting you to think/behave differently.
How many sessions will I get?
This varies for every individual and their difficulties as to how many sessions they need. As a rule of thumb CBT is delivered over the course of 10-20 sessions. This is informed by the NICE guidelines (National Institute for Clinical Excellence) who make recommendations for the use of CBT in the treatment of anxiety disorders and depression.
Why do I have to fill in weekly questionnaires?
The questionnaires you fill out are a measure of your symptoms over the past 1-2 weeks. This is important for you and your therapist to evaluate changes in your mood as you go through your therapy. We hope to see your symptoms improve over the course of therapy and the questionnaires help us measure that. If your symptoms are not improving the symptom questionnaires will indicate this and the treatment can be reviewed, or other options considered. It is also important for overall evaluation of the psychology clinic to see how many students who have treatment with us benefit from CBT.
Am I suitable for CBT?
You will have an assessment with one of our clinicians in the clinic to determine your suitability for CBT before you commence treatment. This will depend on the nature of your current difficulty and the mental health problem you are currently experiencing. Typically, if you are experiencing a problem in which CBT has been shown to be effective for, and you are able to access your thoughts and identify some goals of therapy you will likely be suitable.
What if I am not suitable?
If it is decided you are not suitable for a course of CBT in the clinic then your therapist will discuss with you other options for your care. This will likely involve signposting you to the most appropriate service within the locality who may be more suited to your needs.
How will I be allocated to a qualified or trainee therapist?
When you are referred to the psychology clinic you will have an assessment with one of the therapists which will last up to 90 minutes. During this assessment you will discuss your main difficulties and the symptoms you are currently struggling with. There is no particular criteria for being assigned a trainee or qualified therapist and often it is the case of who can offer you the soonest appointment. All our practitioners are accredited CBT therapists, qualified clinical psychologists or professionals in training. All clinicians - qualified and in-training - undertake regular clinical supervision from an accredited CBT supervisor.
Can I request the gender of my therapist?
Yes, if you have a preference for the gender of your therapist, you will have the opportunity to indicate this during your assessment session.