COGNITIVE BEHAVIOURAL THERAPY (CBT)

Pioneered in the 1960s by Aaron T. Beck as a way of understanding and treating depression, CBT is a short-term, goal-oriented, and problem-focused psychological intervention that explores how your thoughts and behaviours relate to and influence the way you feel, and how these elements might contribute to your problems.  It's not necessarily what happens to us, but rather it's how we interpret situations that can create emotional pain and suffering.  Therefore, if we change the way we think and how we behave we can change the way we feel, and we can create new possibilities for our future.  

 

CBT is grounded in psychological theories of learning.  These propose that many behaviours are learned and therefore can be changed by breaking associations and consequences.  Patterns of thinking and ways of behaving are likely to have been effective at some point. However, problems tend to occur when these thought patterns aren't regularly 'updated' to fit with life as it is now, ultimately becoming completely detrimental and getting in the way of us living a productive life.     

 

There is an extensive evidence-base demonstrating the effectiveness of CBT as a highly effective talking therapy for several conditions and is recommended by NICE in the treatment of mental health problems, including:

• Depression 

• Psychosis & Schizophrenia

• Bipolar Disorder

• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

• Social Anxiety Disorder

• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) & Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD)

• Generalised Anxiety Disorder & Panic Disorder