WHAT IS CBT?

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Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, is more than just the power of positive thinking, it is a psychological treatment - supported by a vast array of empirical evidence - which has a proven beneficial effect in the treatment of a range of conditions, including (but not limited to):

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• Anger management 

• Anxiety and panic attacks

• Depression and low mood

• Substance abuse and addiction

• Obessive Compulsive Disorder

• Hoarding

• Phobias

• Marital and relationship difficulties

• Eating disorders

• Sleep problems

• Other mental wellbeing challenges

 

Based on Stoic philosophy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy recognises that people who proactively seek therapy no longer wish to think the way they have been thinking or feel the way they have been feeling; they need change, and they want hope. As most emotional and behavioural reactions are learned they can be unlearned, when combined with a genuine desire and intention to create change.

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CBT is effective because it emphasises the vital connection between how your thoughts affect your emotions, and how those emotions affect your behaviours. It does this by identifying and then challenging your irrational thought processes. Once the irrational thoughts have been acknowledged and analysed, we can then neutralise them and start taking away their power over you; which will change how you feel and the choices you make... and all for the better, is the plan.

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In a nutshell, CBT therapists won't tell you what to do, they will teach you how to do, and this will empower your sense of autonomy in the first instance and support your self-sufficiency going forwards.

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IS CBT RIGHT FOR ME?

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is a safe and effective mindset reframing therapy but, as with all things of value in life, its success hinges entirely on your 100% engagement, investment in yourself, willingness to evolve and do the work, whilst implementing the learning in your daily life, forever. Oh, and there WILL be homework. 

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If that hasn't frightened you off, you may now wish to answer these questions, as honestly as you can:

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1. Are you prone to all-or-nothing, black-and-white thinking, e.g.: something didn't work out quite as you'd hoped or planned, so you're obviously a complete failure?

2. Have you ever perceived a single negative setback as yet further evidence of a never-ending pattern of defeat?

3. Are you known to pick out a single negative detail and then dwell on it obsessively, darkening your reality like a drop of ink in a clear glass of water?

4. Do you reject certain, positive experiences by insisting they "don't count", which enables you to maintain a negative belief, which is otherwise contradicted by your everyday experiences?

5. Be honest, do you jump to conclusions by mind reading other people and concluding, without evidence, that they are reacting negatively towards you?

6. Same honesty please, have you ever jumped to conclusions by fortune telling errors; anticipating that things will turn out badly, and feeling convinced your predictions represent already-established facts?

7. Have you ever magnified, minimised or catastrophised the importance of a thing; where you have inappropriately blown things up or shrunk things down (aka 'The Binocular Trick'), or run around like Chicken Licken because "the sky is falling in"?

8. Do you engage in emotional reasoning, where you assume your negative emotions reflect the way things really are, e.g.: "I feel it, therefore it must be true"?

9. How often do you use should, shouldn't, ought and must statements, e.g.: "I really should...", or "I must..." etc? The thing is, when you direct these should statements towards yourself and other people, it builds anger, frustration, and resentment, so if you're partial to a should or two, we're definitely going to be taking a look at that.

10. Do you label or mislabel yourself, errors or events, e.g.: extreme forms of over generalisation following a simple mistake explodes into "I'm a loser", or if someone mildly irritates you, they immediately become "absolute scum"? 

11. Have you ever taken things personally: where you see yourself as the central cause for external negative events (in other people), for which you were not actually, primarily responsible for?

12. How strong is your sense of self-worth? Do you make arbitrary decisions that, in order to feel worthy or good about yourself, you have to behave in a certain way, usually most or all of the time. e.g.: perfectionism?

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What was your score out of twelve? What do your answers tell you, and what truths have been revealed? What do you think about your answers, did they surprise you? And now how do you feel about your answers, have your feelings surprised you? Would you like to make some changes? If so, then yes, CBT is right for you and can help you.

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