About CBT

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is a form of therapy used in the treatment of a wide range of common mental health problems found in the general population. It is estimated that 1 in 4 people at sometime in their life seek help for problems such as anxiety and depression. CBT makes use of a range of tools and techniques derived from systematic reasearch findings over the last 40 years. It aims to teach the individual to identify and abandon unhelpful and destructive habitual ways of thinking and behaving in favour of new more helpful and adaptive ones.

The CBT approach has been so successful that it is now recommended by the National Institute for Health and Clinial Excellence (NICE) as the psychological treatment of choice for many presenting problems. NICE is the advisory body on the effectiveness and efficacy of treatments to the Government. For more information visit

 www.nice.org.uk

Types of CBT offered

The Centre offers two types of CBT

1. Standard CBT

Characteristics of Standard CBT

• It is structured - each session usually lasts one hour
• A course of standard CBT is time limited - standard CBT is usually 15 to 20 sessions
• It is ahistorical - it focuses on the here and now rather than the past
• It is collaborative - the therapist works alongside the patient
• The patient is an active participant in their care rather than a passive receiver
• Involves doing homework tasks between sessions
• The focus is on the relief of symptoms, problem solving and the development of skills and coping strategies

2. Schema Focused Therapy (SFT)

SFT whilst sharing many of the characteristics listed above has a number of differences

Characteristics of SFT

• Longer term - 20 + sessions
• Focuses on the impact of toxic early life experiences on the here and now
• Deals with more complex and long standing issues such as personality and interpersonal relationship problems
• Aims to identify and change long standing dysfunctional beliefs and assumptiions that underlie clinical presentations.