What is Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) and will it help me?
CBT is a proven talking therapy that works with many psychological disorders, including anxiety, depression, and addiction. More detail is available on each area we can work with at the bottom of the page.
The CBT model works with your thoughts, feelings and behaviours, to identify and improve thinking styles, how you feel and what you do, and ultimately improving mindset and mood. What we identify, is that in any given situation, are your patterns of what we call ‘unhelpful’ thoughts, feelings or behaviours, and work with you, in partnership to make significant changes.
Illustrated below is a normal situation, and how the impact of having unhelpful thoughts can have on, how you feel, and how you behave.
- Situation: Neighbour walked passed me in the street without saying hello.
- Thought: I must have done something to upset them.
- Significant Thought: I am worthless.
- Feelings: Anxious, angry, lonely,
- Behaviour: Slamming doors in the house, not communicating with anyone, not leaving the house for the rest of the day
How does this person cope with these feelings?
Any number of ways; they may turn to substances to temporarily numb out these feelings, or they may well start creating what we call ‘safety behaviours’, such as not leaving the house, or when the do, they start to anticipate similar feelings arising, and in order not to feel like that, spend more and more time isolated from the world. Small things, over time, can become much bigger things, left unchecked, they can become real life inhibitors.
Your challenge may well be a life long one, which you have coped with, until now, or this may feel like a something out of the blue for you, either way, if you want to feel differently, it’s time to take action.
Did you know you have over 70,000 thoughts EVERY SINGLE DAY. Crazy right? But some of those thoughts, the ones that make us feel so bad, are just that. THOUGHTS. There’s a great analogy for this: Imagine your head is like a train station, with lots of trains going through as the thoughts, and then one stops and you can either choose to hop on or not. It is a choice! This is what surprises most people, we can actually control our own thoughts and what we do with them, and the power they have over us – but it does take change and work to believe this.
This style of therapy may be different to therapy you have experienced before as the approach in CBT is structured, goal orientated, and works within a guidance of around 6-20 sessions, on a one to one basis. However, we also offer therapy on a group basis for a number of areas, so please get in touch if you think a group setting would work better for you.
What’s fantastic about CBT is that the treatment is evidence based, which means, this isn’t trial and error. This stuff works, and there a a load of research to support it. Google the effectiveness of CBT to find out for yourself.
What can I expect in Therapy?
You can expect to be dealt with firstly confidentially. Trust us when we say, there is nothing we’ve not heard before. There is nothing shocking or embarrassing to us. One of the keys to working together in therapy is a therapeutic alliance, and this is something we therapists hold dear. So when you engage in therapy, you can be rest assured, that judgement, is parked firmly at the door. Your therapist is trained to listen, ask questions, and help you make links. They are also trained to teach you tools which will help you understand and trouble shoot situations going forward. Our aim as therapists, is to EMPOWER you with the knowledge, skills and tools to become your very own therapist in the future!
You may feel like you are the ONLY person in the world that feels this way, and that can lead to you feeling pretty isolated, but engaging in therapy and working towards change will be the best thing you ever do for yourself.
All our therapists are highly trained in CBT and have a variety of life experience in a vast field. With the right therapist and the desire for change, then you can and will take control of your mind and your life, one step at a time. If you want to know more, please contact us today for more information, and to confidentially discuss what you would like overcome and what is challenging you in life.
Will CBT help me?
CBT works in a way to empower you with the knowledge, skills and tools to essentially become your own therapist. All therapists have sat on your seat as part of their training, so they know how difficult it can be and at The Talking Rooms, you’ll find a warm, empathetic, qualified Therapist who will work with you at your pace.
If you think you are suffering from any of the following and you’d like to work on improving this, then please make an appointment for an initial free consultation.