CBT
Over the last 60 years Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) has become an established psychotherapy approach for people with a wide range of mental health problems. It integrates two types of therapy to help you deal with thoughts and behaviours; behavioural therapy and cognitive therapy. There is a solid evidence base supporting this approach and it is the NICE recommended treatment for depression and anxiety disorders. NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) informs NHS England in their best practice.
I am an accredited member of the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP). My details can be found on the CBT Register UK:
http://www.cbtregisteruk.com/
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is based on the understanding that your thoughts, feelings, physical sensations, and behaviours are all interconnected. These links can sometimes create a vicious cycle, where unhelpful thinking patterns fuel emotional distress and reinforce difficult behaviours. For example, how we interpret a situation can deeply influence how we feel and respond.
CBT aims to help you manage challenges more effectively by breaking them down into smaller, manageable parts. We begin by gaining a clear understanding of your current difficulties, identifying patterns that may be maintaining your distress. From there, we work together to develop practical strategies for change.
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CBT sessions are structured, focused, and goal-oriented. While we may explore how your past experiences shape your current responses, the primary emphasis is on addressing present-day concerns and helping you move forward.
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In addition to traditional CBT techniques, I draw on third-wave CBT approaches, including:
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Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), which supports you in developing psychological flexibility through acceptance, mindfulness, and committed action guided by your personal values.
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Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT), which helps develop self-compassion and reduce shame and self-criticism by working with the brain’s emotional regulation systems. CFT can be particularly helpful for those who struggle with feelings of inadequacy, harsh self-judgment, or low self-worth.
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Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), which offers tools for emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and improving relationships.
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Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), which cultivates non-judgmental awareness of thoughts and feelings, helping to reduce reactivity and prevent relapse into depressive cycles.
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These approaches offer a broader, more flexible toolkit to address a wide range of emotional and psychological challenges, especially where traditional CBT alone may not be sufficient.
Therapy is a collaborative process. I’ll support you in applying what you learn in our sessions to your everyday life, helping you build lasting change and resilience.
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The number of sessions needed varies from person to person, but most people attend between 5 and 20 sessions, depending on their individual needs and goals.
In addition to standard CBT I am also trained and experienced in working with:
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Trauma focused CBT (TF- CBT):A CBT approach that focuses on post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
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CBTe and CBTt: Two CBT approaches for treating eating disorders, including bulimia, binge eating and non-underweight anorexia
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Working with people with mental health problems and cancer. The focus of my masters thesis was the effectiveness of CBT for depression for women with breast cancer.
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