Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) & Psychology

CBT is a solution-focused talking therapy that is a required training for all chartered clinical and counselling psychologists. CBT can be applied to any psychological conditions and It is the therapy approach most familiar to GP’s and insurance companies.

The ‘cognitive’ aspect of treatment refers to working with irrational thoughts. This will involve:

• Identifying negative automatic thoughts,patterns and negative core beliefs
• Challenging irrational thoughts in the session to make them more realistic and accurate
• Educating the client about how to challenge their own thoughts

The ‘behavioural’ aspect of treatments refers to reinforcement and conditioning. This will involve:

• Completing a daily or weekly ‘thought log’ to practice and get into the new habit of challenging negative thoughts
• Pursuing agreed tasks such as de-sensitising oneself to the feared stimulus under controlled conditions

What can CBT help with?

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) recommends CBT in the treatment of the following conditions:

• Anxiety disorders (including panic attacks and post-traumatic stress disorder)
• Bipolar disorder
• Depression
• Obsessive compulsive disorder
• Schizophrenia and psychosis

There is also good evidence that CBT is helpful in treating many other conditions, including:

• Anger management
• Chronic fatigue
• Chronic pain
• Physical symptoms without a medical diagnosis
• Sleep difficulties

CBT can be used if you are on medication which has been prescribed by your GP. You can also use CBT on its own. This will depend on the difficulty you want help with.

Does Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Work? A Review of The Research.

Additional Psychological Therapies

In addition to CBT, psychologists receive further training in other psychological therapies such as:

• Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT) - a close cousin of CBT
• Schema Focused Therapy ('schemas' refer to self-defeating patterns of perception and coping styles)
• Systemic psychotherapy (which seems problems as part of a context, such as an interactive feedback loop with the environment)
• Person-centred counselling (more traditional counselling approaches)
• Psychodynamic counselling (another form of traditional counselling)

What is a Chartered Psychologist?

According to the British Psychological Society (BPS), to which all psychologists are required to be members:

Contact us today and let's start making a difference.

Other therapies available at The Heath

The following are just a few alternative therapies available at The Heath: