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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]