What is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
CBT looks at how you interpret the things that happen in your life, through your thinking (your cognitions) and how you act (your behaviours). In times of discomfort we look for patterns in your thinking and actions that may be accidentally working against you, rather than for you. By identifying these vicious cycles we can then start to apply different CBT tools, adapted to your own circumstances, to allow you to build on your strengths and find strategies that help you to break the cycle.
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CBT prides itself on building the skills within you to become your own therapist. Once a skill is learned, it is often possible to adapt these to new circumstances on your own, helping you to build upon your ability to cope without therapy in the future.
What is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
CBT looks at how you interpret the things that happen in your life, through your thinking (cognitions) and how you act (behaviours).
In times of discomfort we look for patterns in your thinking and actions that may be accidentally working against you, rather than for you.
By identifying these vicious cycles we can then start to apply different CBT tools, adapted to your own circumstances, to allow you to build on your strengths and find strategies that help you to break the cycle.
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CBT prides itself on building the skills within you to become your own therapist.
Once a skill is learned, it is often possible to adapt these to new circumstances on your own, helping you to build upon your ability to cope without therapy in the future.
Who can CBT help?
Our clients come from all walks of life, from young people to older adults and work with us on a wide range of difficulties.
Some people may have been aware for some time that something needs to change, or may be struggling with recent events and realise that their way of coping isn’t working for them anymore.
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Many clients become aware of their psychological health when they start to experience extreme physical symptoms for example: panic attacks, insomnia, severe exhaustion, or physical symptoms with no underlying medical cause.
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Not all of our clients have a clinical condition, but our therapists are trained and experienced mental health practitioners and are able to assess and treat problems such as:
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Depression,
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Generalised Anxiety Disorder or Excessive Worry
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Stress
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Insomnia
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Obsessive Compulsive Disorder- (OCD)
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Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
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Health Anxiety (Illness Anxiety)
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Panic Attacks
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Phobias
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Bulimia
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Binge Eating Disorder
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Body Image Disturbance
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Difficulties specifically associated with neurodiverse conditions (ADHD and ASD)
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Social Anxiety
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Low Self Esteem
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Clinical Perfectionism
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Postnatal Depression or Anxiety
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Addictions
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Tics (Including Tourettes)
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Body Focussed Repetitive Behaviours (BFRBs)- including Trichotillomania and Skin Picking.
What to Expect from CBT Sessions
CBT focuses most of its attention on the 'here and now' and on what is maintaining your difficulties first, before looking at what may have started the problem and ensuring that your problems don't return. Think of it like putting out the fire before looking for the match that start
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Your first session involves a thorough assessment of your symptoms and difficulties as they are going on right now. At your second session we can often start treatment straight away. Sometimes however we need to continue assessing for past events that might have affected your beliefs or how you are processing information as these things could continue to cause problems even if you're working hard on making changes in the present day.
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CBT is a very active form of therapy and involves lots of doing, not just talking! For that reason you and your therapist will agree 'homework' tasks for you to take out of session and be getting on with between sessions. This give you a chance to practice, gather more information and bring evidence back to your session to help you both move forward with treatment.
How long is CBT Treatment?
CBT treatment usually starts to show improvement in symptoms very quickly!
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For most clinical conditions there are recommended treatment approaches that last 12-20 sessions. However, for many people they are able to meet their goals in much less time than this often around 6 sessions.
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Each of our therapists builds in regular reviews of your goals, therapy map and treatment plan so that together you can discuss whether CBT is working well and if anything needs to change in your plan.
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How much do CBT Sessions Cost?
Individual Sessions Face to Face (50 mins): £90
Individual Sessions Skype or Zoom (50 mins): £75
Couples Sessions (90 mins): £145
CBT Based Classes and Courses: £60 for 4 week course
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Our CBT treatment costs are kept as low as possible by our efficient clinical system and booking methods.
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Whilst you may find other therapists or counsellors advertising that they can work in a 'CBT way' or integrate CBT into other form of therapy, CBT is a specialist approach and requires lots of training, supervision and experience in order to work effectively.​ Research consistently shows that the 'mix and match' approach to therapy is less effective and in the worst cases can actually create further problems for clients.
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All qualified CBT Therapists should be accredited with the British Association of Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapists (BABCP) and no other accrediting body acknowledges the CBT speciality in the same way (note BACP is for Counsellors and HCPC is for Psychologists who will be usually dual accredited with the BABCP if they have gained sufficient training and supervision in CBT to do so and practice CBT to a high enough level on a regular basis.
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If it's CBT you are interested in, be sure to go to an expert!
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