Is Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) right for you?

CBT has received a lot of publicity over the years and has been recommended as one of the main treatment modalities by NICE for a range of difficulties, particularly related to anxiety. Nevertheless, it is important to decide if it is the right therapeutic approach for you.

There are four aspects which might be useful to consider, and I will look at each of those:

1. What are you hoping to get from therapy?
2. Does the CBT model make sense to you?
3. Does the way CBT works suit you? and –
4. Can CBT help with the type of problem/s you are experiencing?

To start with I would ask you to think about:

1. What are you hoping to get from therapy?

CBT is an intervention which aims to help you make changes in your life now. Is this what you want to do? And is it the right time to do this?

Time to Talk

In CBT, we start by coming to an understanding with you of what has led to your problems and what keeps them going in the here and now. You may have had some difficult life experiences either when you were much younger, or more recently, – or both. Talking about your experiences and problems with your therapist in a safe setting is a very important part of coming to terms with them. It can be very supportive to share what has happened in the past and what’s going on in your life and to reflect on it in a confidential setting with a therapist who is not part of your day-to-day life and network. This is an essential part of cognitive behaviour therapy.

Wanting to Feel Better

However, this alone may not be enough to help you feel better in a lasting way. In CBT, you will be encouraged to think about what you want to be different, and how you can make the changes which help you get there. It might be that you have used coping strategies to manage the way you have felt. Some of these may have helped in the short-term but have kept your problems going or even made them worse. For example, if you have felt low in mood and energy you may have withdrawn from others and reduced your activities; or if you have felt anxious you may have avoided certain situations. At the time, these strategies bring you relief but unfortunately, they may compound matters. In CBT, we try to help you change the way you deal with things and find more helpful approaches so that you can reduce the problems not just in the short-term.

However, if you prefer to have a place where you can simply offload and gain relief by having someone listen to you without working towards making changes, then CBT might not be the best option for you. In this instance, for example supportive counselling might be more useful.

What is important to consider though, is that one of the reasons why CBT is known to work. This is because you will actively address how you think, how you feel and what you do. This may involve a change in the way you view yourself, for example to help you develop more self-compassion, or trying out different ways of doing things when you struggle with anxiety. Of course, we will help you make the changes you want to make, at your own pace, supporting you in a warm and non-judgmental atmosphere.

So, if you seek change and improvement then CBT could be the right choice for you.

Do you have time and space for therapy now?

You may have a recent problem; Or you may find that a long-standing problem has got worse or that you may simply have had enough of it and decide that it is the right time to address it; or someone else might encourage you to seek help. It is important to bear in mind that therapy does require some commitment. For example, when engaging in CBT you will need to attend sessions regularly. Especially at the beginning these will mostly be weekly. In addition, you may agree tasks you do in between sessions, and these will require some attention. It is therefore important to consider if you are able to put aside the time and energy at this point so that you can fully benefit from therapy. On the other hand, we would expect that we may well be able to help you manage some stressors more easily so that the overall burden on you is lessened and time and energy will be freed up.

If you have any questions about any of the above, please get in touch by email or telephone.

Next, we’ll look at the CBT model to see if this approach makes sense to you.