Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
What is CBT?
Whether you call it self-talk, internal dialogue, or simply your daily thoughts, we all have constant chatter going through our minds. You may be thinking about the past, the future, what others might be thinking or feeling, or maybe you’re thinking about what could go wrong in your life.
These thoughts determine how you feel and behave, and it's usual to trust your thoughts and believe that they are helpful, reliable and in your best interests. Yet when you are feeling down or anxious, you are more likely to experience negative, intrusive or unhelpful thoughts. Negative thoughts will in turn make you feel more depressed and anxious, creating a cycle of feeling worse and worse.
CBT looks at the relationship between your thoughts, your feelings and your behaviour. For example, someone who is depressed might think that she is useless, a failure, and is letting others down. These thoughts will make her depression feel more intense, and lead to her cancelling plans with friends and family.
How can CBT help?
CBT aims to break these cycles by finding more accurate ways of thinking and more helpful ways of behaving. When you come for CBT, I will help you to understand your thoughts and behaviour, and we will work together towards changing your life.
Although CBT works with problems in the ‘here and now’, we may also talk about things that have happened in the past to help make sense of your current thinking patterns or behaviour.
If you have any questions about cognitive behavioural therapy or if you would like to book an appointment, please contact me.
