Everyone experiences difficulties in their life at some time, and cognitive behavioural therapy is likely to help you to better understand and cope with them. The list is not exhaustive, but difficulties that can be worked on together in therapy could include:
· Anxiety
· Depression (including post-natal depression)
· Stress
· Relationship issue
· Life changes and loss
· Lack or loss of direction in life
· Isolation
· Fear of social situations
· Lack of confidence.
Some people also use therapy to get to know themselves better, understand how their past experiences influence their current situations and, to explore and develop new approaches to life.
I am also happy to work with trainee counsellors who accrue time in therapy as part of their training, particularly if they are seeking support with cognitive behavioural approaches to working.
My way of working
My therapeutic approach is based on the understanding that the ways we feel, think and behave are inter-related. By modifying thinking and behaviour, to become more adaptive and flexible, we are likely to be able to change difficult and distressing feelings.
In this way, it is not necessarily just events themselves that cause us distress, but the way we think about and respond to what happens to us which affects the way we deal with life. This approach is described in psychology as “Cognitive Behavioural Therapy”, or CBT for short.
My way of working is also based on the understanding that individuals are more likely to grow and develop in the context of warm, respectful and accepting relationships. Through a collaborative and supportive relationship with the therapist, clients can learn how to challenge unhelpful thinking and learn new ways of approaching life that are likely to give rise to a more peaceful and satisfactory ways of being.
On the basis of extensive research, CBT is recommended as the first choice approach for depression and anxiety (National Institute of Health & Clinical Excellence) and is used extensively in the NHS for a broad range of issues.
Group work
I also offer relational cognitive behavioural therapy in small groups, as well as for individuals. This can work well for issues related to anxiety, self-esteem, or post-natal depression. Group work can offer a supportive context for people who are experiencing similar kinds of difficulties to each other. It is a cost effective alternative to individual work, and and may also be a way of refreshing skills that a client might have learned in previous therapy (although no previous experience of counselling or therapy is necessary to join a group).