What is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)?

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CBT is a psychological therapy that explores how your thoughts, feelings, physical sensations and actions are linked, and that negative/anxious thoughts and feelings can trap you in a negative/anxious cycle.

Within CBT sessions we will work together to deal with difficulties in a more positive way by analysing your thoughts, feelings and behaviours and often highlighting negative patterns. This then allows us to implement more positive alternatives.

CBT focusses on the here and now, rather than solely focussing on your past. It is a practical doing therapy that allows you to improve your mental wellbeing, it therefore involves working collaboratively to work towards your goals. This can often mean pushing yourself out of your comfort zone to allow for growth and change, for example, behavioural experiments, exposure tasks and out of session home tasks. CBT is like learning an instrument, it requires practice and motivation and I will support you to develop new tools and skill which in turn will allow you to become your own therapist.

CBT is an evidence based approach that is recommended by NICE Guidelines (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence) for many mental health conditions such as, anxiety disorders (OCD, social phobia, panic disorder), depression, eating disorders and many more.