Here are some tips taken from the CBT bible, Back to Basics, by Beck to help therapists carry out their work in the most effective way. Clients can be fearful of what to expect from treatment so it will help to set an agenda at the start of each session. This also allows you to […]
cbt
CBT – Core Beliefs
Core beliefs in CBT We all have central beliefs are about ourselves and our relations to others; they are like short cuts to which we revert, time after time. The problem arises when they become maladaptive, and in which case they often highlight an underlying belief about us being one of three things: unlovable, helpless […]
CBT – Intermediate Beliefs
Intermediate Beliefs are different from core beliefs and encorporate rules, attitudes and assumptions. We formulate these gradually through treatment, not right from the start. It can help to explain that different people have different beliefs because of different personalities and experiences, and that they may make things hard for us but that we can unlearn […]
CBT – Negative Automatic Thoughts and Thought Challenging
We all have negative thoughts from time to time; they are often what make us feel low or anxious. The thoughts themselves can be distorted or the conclusion from the thoughts may also be distorted i.e. I didn’t remember calling my friend back therefore I am a nasty person. Or our thoughts may simply be […]
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Asking Powerful Questions
Asking the right thing, at the right time, and listening to that answer is one of the most important skills any of us can ever learn. But it’s an art, not a science so here I’ve tried to look at how we can ask better questions which will in turn help therapists (and anyone trying […]
- Anxiety
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Post Traumatic Stress Disorder – what is it and how to treat it
What is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)? PTSD is when, following a traumatic incident, individuals experience distressing symptoms such as flashbacks, nightmares and intrusive thoughts about the incident. This can mean that they re-experience the event, they might avoid any memories of the event or even small triggers which bring on memories of the event […]
- CBT
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Why Depression Happens
In this article I’d like to explain a way of looking at and understanding depression which has just been published and which I feel pulls together a lot of what we know about depression from the fields of genetics, neurochemistry, neuroscience, behavioural psychology and social psychology. I think that, if you can understand where depression […]
Reflections on a case study treating an older adult with anxiety
Here I put forward a case report describing the assessment and treatment of April (pseudonym). April is an 80-year old, retired female, living alone with multiple physical health co-morbidities, referred by her doctor for symptoms of anxiety. DSM-V (2013) suggests a provisional diagnosis of Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is appropriate if the client has experienced […]
The best Cognitive Behavioural Therapy apps / CBT apps
There’s lots of evidence that Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is effective at treating anxiety, depression, phobias, hypochondria, PTSD and eating disorders. Trouble is…whilst it’s free on the NHS, the waiting lists are huge; where I work, clients have to wait up to 6 months for treatment in some cases! Of course you can pay, but […]
Worry Time
Do you find yourself spending a vast amount of your time worrying? Do you spend too much time worrying? Do you worry about a huge variety of things, from ‘what will happen if?’ scenarios, to very real situations, to your health, to your family’s safety, to money, to work, to your appearance? Do you worry […]