COGNITIVE BEHAVIOUR THERAPY

YOU CAN CHANGE THE WAY YOU THINK!

Cognitive Behaviour therapy (CBT) is based on the idea that our feelings and behaviours are related to our thoughts. – about ourselves, other people, and about situations in our lives.

If we want to change how we feel and behave we need to change how we think.

What’s the problem?

When we have problems we often find that sometimes our thoughts get a bit distorted. We tend to fixate on our worries, we exaggerate the possibilities of things going wrong, we dwell on the negatives, and at times we even start to believe negative thoughts and fears that another part of us knows to be irrational and unrealistically pessimistic. But we cannot help ourselves. These thoughts are powerful, because:

• They are fuelled by our negative emotions in a downward spiral.

• The more we fear, the more we believe our anxious thoughts.

• The thoughts have been reinforced into powerful habits over a long period of  time

• They are often partly related to fundamental beliefs – attitudes and assumptions that we hold at a deep level – which we are often not fully aware of ourselves.

What can be done?

CBT aims to identify what aspects of your thinking are causing problematic feelings and behaviours. You will then learn to change this way of thinking.

You will learn skills to use these techniques on a self-help basis. Gradually this new way of thinking will help you react more positively to situations which will boost your self-esteem and confidence.

Does it work?

CBT is a relatively ‘young’ therapy, developed since the 1960s. However, it is now widely recognised to be one of the most effective approaches for a wide range of problems. It is a recommended treatment for many problems by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE)

One of the major advantages is that it is a relatively short-term therapy and for many problems positive results can be gained quicker than by using counselling or analytical psychotherapy alone.