What is Cognitive Behaviour Therapy?
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is a science-based psychological approach to overcoming problems and emotional distress.
At first glance this may seem a little off-putting. However, if you experience a problem, you need to feel confident that the help you are offered is going to be effective and CBT has repeatedly been shown in clinical trials to be an effective treatment, for a wide range of problems. In fact, no other psychological treatment has an evidence base anything like CBT. Hence the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) has clearly recommended cognitive behaviour therapy as the psychological treatment of choice.
CBT is based upon the premise that the way we feel is strongly influenced by our behaviour and our thoughts.
To illustrate this principle consider the example of fear: If we think we are in danger we experience fear, and try to find safety by escaping from or neutralising the perceived threat. Responding in this way is clearly a useful protection if we really are in danger. However problems can arise when we misinterpret harmless things as being dangerous (e.g. physical symptoms of anxiety). Under such circumstances we may start to fear and avoid situations that are associated with these symptoms, thus in turn leading to reduced confidence and a restricted lifestyle.
CBT helps people to overcome problems by teaching new adaptive ways of thinking and behaving.
At Perspectives-CBT a BABCP accredited therapist will help you to clearly understand your problems, and more importantly, what is maintaining them. Then you will work together to identify and test out solutions to your problems.
For example:
Jane experienced anxiety and avoidance of social situations. When Jane went into public places she experienced severe anxiety and thoughts about people staring at her.
Analysis of a specific incidence indicated that when Jane walked through town, she looked down at the floor, and avoided eye contact. In her Mind's Eye, she imagined herself looking flustered, and imagined other people staring and sneering at her.
Discussion with her therapist revealed that because Jane avoided looking at people, she did not know for sure if they actually were staring, or if it just felt that way. So, in conjunction with her therapist, Jane devised an experiment, in which she walked through the town slowly, whilst looking at the people she passed. Although this made her feel anxious at first, it also helped her to realise that people were actually paying her no attention at all. Furthermore, by staying in town a little longer than usual, Jane noticed that over the course of an hour her level of anxiety significantly reduced.
CBT mainly focuses on what is happening in the "here and now" of people's lives.
Traditional psychotherapies have often tended to focus upon the supposed childhood causes of a person's problems. However at Perspectives-CBT we recognise that people seek help because they are experiencing difficulties in the here and now. This is not to suggest that we are dismissive of what has happened in a person's past, but it does mean that we only explore issues from the past if they appear to be significant in maintaining your current problems.
To illustrate, if you experience a fire, your main objectives will be getting to safety and extinguishing the fire. Imagine the fire was started by a match, finding the discarded match isn't going to be much use in achieving these aims. On the other hand, once the fire has been put out, you may discover that there is a gas leak. Under these circumstances you would certainly want to fix the leak to prevent any risk of another fire. Likewise, at Perspectives-CBT we focus on extinguishing your problems, and preventing them from coming back.
CBT is structured, goal-focused and time-limited (usually 6-20 sessions)
All aspects of cognitive behavioural psychotherapy are determined by the goals that you set in conjunction with your BABCP accredited therapist. Clearly, if you set off on a journey without a clear idea of where you are going, you're not likely to arrive at a satisfactory destination any time soon. Likewise there is little evidence that unstructured, directionless therapy is of any use.
Furthermore, at Perspectives-CBT we want to help you achieve your goals quickly. CBT is time-limited, which means that it is a cost efficient treatment, but apart from this, at Perspectives-CBT we believe it is important to help you overcome your problems as soon as possible!
CBT has been researched extensively and has demonstrated efficacy for a wide range of clinical problems.
It may seem like we are labouring the point here. However the vast majority of psychological treatments have little or no evidence supporting their effectiveness! Furthermore, because NHS waiting lists for cognitive behaviour therapy are so long (often up to 2 years), GPs are frequently left with little choice but to refer people for psychological treatments which are of little or no use. We believe this is an unacceptable situation, and guarantee that at Perspectives-CBT you will not have to wait to receive effective cognitive behavioural therapy by a BABCP accredited therapist (British Association of Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies).
CBT has been shown to be effective when delivered in pure form by a competent psychotherapist.
Due to the extent of demand for cognitive behavioural psychotherapy, there is currently a trend for practitioners, without appropriate training to profess they are practicing CBT. This is a cause for concern, as it has been shown that people make inferior treatment gains when they are helped by therapists without sufficient competence. Another trend is for practitioners to incorporate "cognitive-behavioural techniques" into their existing practice, thus delivering a "hybrid treatment". This approach is not supported in clinical trials.
At Perspectives-CBT we advise you seek psychological treatment with demonstrated effectiveness, delivered by a competent practitioner. Furthermore we guarantee that at Perspectives-CBT you will be offered evidence-based help by an experienced and BABCP accredited Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapist.