What is CBT?
What Is Cognitive Behavioural Counselling?
CBT is a type of therapy developed in the 1950's by the American psychiatrist A.T Beck. It involves working with your thoughts (cognitions), your behaviours (what you do) in order to change your emotions. The therapist and the client work together, in partnership to help the process of change. For this reason, the therapist will ask the client to perform some tasks between sessions. The most common task is to record particular thoughts triggered by particular situations.
How do the sessions work?
Sessions take place with a counsellor, usually in a session room. CBT involves looking at your problems, examining thought and behaviour patterns, and working out ways of changing negative behaviours/thoughts. Most people seeking this type of therapy will be given a set number of sessions, usually 6-12, each session lasting approximately 50 minutes. Therapists often set clients "homework" to do in between sessions which may include carrying out activities such as monitoring thoughts and feelings throughout the week and entering these into a thought diary.
What difficulties can it help?
CBT can help particularly with emotional problems centered around anxiety, stress, depression, addiction, assertiveness, negativity, self esteem and confidence. CBT also helps to tackle phobias, grief and loss, relationship difficulties, obsessive compulsive disorder, self confidence, insomnia, conflict resolution, trauma, anger, fatigue or pain.
What benefits can be expected?
Through the counselling process and the individual commitment, clients will be able to acquire new skills and new insight of themselves which will enable them to be their own therapist.