Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

Of all the counselling therapies currently on offer Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, or CBT as it is also referred to, is perhaps the most widely recognised and available form of counselling support.

What is CBT All About?

CBT helps a counselling client recognise the content of their thoughts (cognitive) in conjunction with their actions (behaviour). Cognitive Behaviour therefore focuses primarily on the present time – the here and now – and encourages the counselling client to stop thinking about the past, which is unchangeable, and to concentrate on the present, which is more flexible and open to change and suggestion.

This form of supportive talking therapy is successfully used by counsellors to help clients overcome a large number of emotion problems and concerns. These include: anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, limiting beliefs, panic, eating disorders, post traumatic stress disorder and phobias and fears.

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How it Works:

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy allows a counselling client an opportunity to clarify and understand the issue or problem that is on their mind. It then allows the client, and counsellor, to look at the situation more logically, and enables them to break the concern into smaller, and less threateningly-sized chunks. By doing this a client will be able to realise how this issue affects them and what they can do to change their mindset and to create positive change.

The parts of a problem that can be examined include: the thoughts, physical feelings, emotions and the individual’s actions. Looking at the problem in this way enables the client to recognise how what they think and feel affects the actions that they take. It also allows them to consider how they might have felt had they thought about the problem in a different way in the first place, and helps the client also understand that there is also another choice to consider.

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What CBT Can Do

CBT can encourage a counselling client to stop and assess an issue, problem or concern. It can also enable the client to alter the way they current think, feel, react and act. Cognitive Behaviour therapy provides a workable solution that offers many counselling clients an alternative to medication. It is also a recognised method of achieving successful results, with clients who present problems relating to depression and anxiety, and provides a way in which a client can change their experiences if the problems start to arise again, over time.

Problems

If a client is feeling very low, this may make concentration levels dip considerably and may affect how much help they gain from a CBT counselling session. This may make the client feel disappointment, and also feel they are not making enough progress through counselling. A good counsellor will however, pace the counselling sessions accordingly and can provide additional support and encouragement if a client takes a temporary dip in mood and confidence.

CBT is also primarily offered in short bursts of weekly counselling sessions, usually spread over a 6 week period. This length of counselling is usually sufficient, although some clients may require considerably longer than this length of time.

The Next Step

Now that you have read through the advice above, you might want to put it into practice. Our Counselling Approach Finder lets you describe what a client brings to you and find out which counselling approach is most evidence based for their situation. Try it now →