What is CBT?
CBT is a very effective form of treatment for a range of psychological problems and disorders. It is recommended by NICE (National Institute for Clinical Excellence) as a first line treatment for people suffering low mood, depression, anxiety, OCD and a range of other problems.
It is often referred to as a form of talking therapy as it involves talking to a therapist to explore and understand your problems as well as develop strategies to help you overcome them.
The main principle behind CBT is that often the situation that people find themselves is not what actually causes the problem, instead it’s how we interpret the situation that often leads to people’s problems such as anxiety and OCD.
For example, Claire becomes very anxious when getting into her car but it’s not actually the car itself that is causing her the anxiety. About six weeks ago Claire had a serious car accident. Now Claire finds that she is anxious whenever she goes into her car or thinks about having to make a journey. She often begins to have negative thoughts such as “somebody is going to crash into my car and I might get hurt”. These thoughts then effect her emotions and she may start to feel hot and sweaty or even have a panic attack. Because of these symptoms she avoids driving the car and struggles to sit in the car even as a passenger.
Claire’s anxiety is shown in what we call a cognitive model in figure 1.
Figure 1
What does CBT Involve?
There are lots of different types of treatment interventions and techniques that Therapists use depending on the actual problems people present with. The aim is to help people actively understand and re-frame underlying thoughts and beliefs. Some of these techniques involve:
- Cognitive Restructuring
- Graded Imaginal & real-life exposure
- Guided discovery
- Schema therapy
- Reliving therapy
- Behavioral Activation
How well do people recover?
A lot of the terms sound complicated but with support and guidance through a qualified therapist people can experience the benefits of CBT in just a few sessions. As with any psychological problem whether this is mild anxiety or trauma the speed of your recovery will vary. Often people can feel overwhelmed when they first begin therapy as you begin to talk about private thoughts and feelings in detail, probably for the first time.
It is unrealistic to expect that everyone who accesses CBT will be cured 100% of the time. Although the success rate for CBT is good compared to other therapies, it is very likely that you will need to continue practicing what you learned in sessions for weeks and months ahead. Either way most people should notice a significant improvement in their quality of life as their treatment progresses.
What you expect from treatment ?
Where ever you access CBT, your therapist will start with an assessment. This will be used to formulate how your problems may have developed over time and what is maintaining them. In other words, if you constantly have negative thoughts that germs will spread and you spend a significant amount of your time cleaning, the therapist will work with you to identify how you may have developed these negative thoughts and what keeps these thoughts and problem behaviours going. The therapist will work with you to formulate a diagnosis and an individual treatment plan to help change the way you think and the way you view the world around you.
If you are interested in accessing CBT, please talk to your GP as you will very likely qualify for treatment on the NHS. I highly recommend accessing these services first however, it is fair to say that most places have long waiting lists. Secondly, services in my experience don’t visit you in your own home, this is particularly important if you’re so anxious that you can’t get out of your home. In other cases, it may be that you want to access longer term therapy because in most cases in the NHS therapy is restricted to around 6 sessions. Lastly, some professionals, particularly those working in the NHS can find accessing services anxiety provoking for their own reasons. This is just fact and this is how we as people are.
My services
All my initial assessments are discounted to £25 and there is no obligation in taking further appointments. These assessments will be written and sent to you by email and yours to keep. Please note, it is difficult to come to a diagnosis in only one assessment but it will give you an idea of whether CBT is for you and give you a better understanding of your psychological problems. If you live in the Staffordshire area I can visit you at home (depending on how far you are from my base, there may be a small fee to cover fuel expenses but this can be agreed at the time of contact). If you live anywhere else in the UK you can access my services online using Skype. See the services page for more detail.