Ros Falconer
Counselling and Psychotherapy 

What is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy?

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is a short-term psychological treatment. CBT is based on the belief that people learn most of their unhealthy ways of thinking and behaving over a long period of time. Cognitive behavioural therapy aims to help us manage problems by changing how we think and act.

CBT encourages us to talk about:

• how we think about ourselves, the world and other people
• how what we do affects our thoughts and feelings

By talking about these things, CBT can help us to change how we think and what we do. We so often become angry at ourselves for not behaving as intended, or not saying what we should have said. This anger eats away at our self confidence, making it more difficult to confront situations which may arise.

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) can be used to treat a number of issues including:

• anxiety
• obsessive compulsive disorder
• phobias and panic disorder
• post-traumatic stress disorder
• depression
• eating disorders

CBT can also help:

• anger problems
• smoking cessation
• drug and alcohol abuse
• relationship problems
• sleep problems

Unlike other talking treatments, CBT focuses on the problems and difficulties we have now, rather than issues from your past. It looks for practical ways that we can improve our state of mind on a daily basis.

One of the greatest benefits of CBT is that following therapy, we can continue to apply the principles of CBT to our daily life. This makes it is less likely that our symptoms or problems will return.

Common CBT techniques include:

• challenging irrational beliefs and replacing them with alternative ones
• stopping unhelpful thoughts
• gradual exposure to situations
• assertiveness training
• social skills training

Number of sessions

CBT usually involves weekly or fortnightly sessions with treatment usually lasting from six to 12 weeks. The number of sessions required varies greatly depending on problems and objectives. Each session usually lasts for about an hour.

Studies have shown that two years after therapy has ended, CBT patients do better than those using other treatments. They also suggest that CBT brings about a real change in how people feel about themselves and protects them from reoccurrence.

Outlook

• CBT helps us see how thoughts and behaviour relate to the way we feel, and how this might contribute to our problems in life.
• CBT helps us to find ways to change thought patterns and behaviours so we can cope with problems and anxieties better.
• CBT does not stop us experiencing problems or negative emotions but it helps us to manage them in a more positive way.
• CBT is thought to be one of the most effective treatments for anxiety and depression.
• CBT helps us to make sense of overwhelming problems by breaking them down into smaller parts.