Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is a way to help you manage your problems by changing the way you think about them; how you behave when you are experiencing them and what happens for you because of them. This enable you to learn to cope using cope using strategies. CBT therapy aims to help you deal with overwhelming situations in a more positive way by breaking them down into smaller parts.
CBT helps you to challenge and change destructive negative thought patterns that lead to unhealthy and unhelpful behaviour and negative feelings and mood, to improve the way you feel and behave by replacing those thoughts for new ways of thinking to create more positive ones so you can then practice new behaviours.
CBT has become an important treatment of anxiety and symptoms of anxiety, a useful treatment of depression, social anxiety and anger management and can be useful for other mental and physical health problems that can lead to mental health problems and mental disorders.
It is focused on the present; It is time linked and it is a strategy for self-help and problem solving. With the right help and tools you learn to develop strategies to combat your issues and use them actively in day to day life.
CBT enablers a strategy of calm focus and therapy techniques to be effective in confronting undesirable situations and working with a trusted, safe person using talking therapy strategies, that understands your concerns, so you can untangle what is happening to you and target actions to change your response.
It is based on the idea that how you perceive the world influences how you feel emotionally and how you think. You can begin to see how Thoughts, Emotions and Behaviours are interconnected.
For example, you need to speak at a meeting. You feel anxious, scared, you can’t concentrate so you eat a big bar of chocolate beforehand because you like chocolate and it makes you happy. But it didn’t help. You feel sick, annoyed, sad and frustrated and now because you had a whole bar of chocolate that didn’t help. You always turn to chocolate and you hate that!
Understanding what is going on for you is key to making changes to that outcome. By becoming more aware of your own thoughts and behaviours, you can adjust what you think and be able to change how you feel about a situation, so that you can create a new behaviour instead. And using session time and homework , you can reinforce positive action to change your behaviour.
Our emotions (within our brain) are closely tied to our nervous system (within our body) and to an area within the brain called the Limbic System.
Within this area is the Amygdala which plays a vital role in emotional regulation. Human emotion is a powerful and essential part of our lived experience. Many CBT techniques work to target our thinking. These thoughts are automatic thoughts that are negative and often cause inaccurate thinking and even irrational behaviour that affect and influence our emotions. Working with CBT therapies helps to overcome negative thinking and negative emotions.
Because the mind and body are one connected system, we express emotions with both spoken language and also through our body using nonverbal behaviour and body language such as gestures, facial expressions and posture. We also experience physiological feelings [and symptoms] when we are feeling stress, anxiety and other unhelpful emotions and these can similarly be linked to how we think and feel.
Although private CBT therapists are available from many sources, I use elements and techniques derived from cognitive behavioural therapy within coaching alongside other styles when most appropriate and useful to support the person to move forwards. CBT is a talking therapy which uses personally created strategy and activities to move forwards. Both online CBT therapy or in person CBT therapy can be equally helpful, as long as it works for the individual. Much of the benefit will be in the actions the person takes away from the sessions as they put learning and reflection into use.
Using CBT methods we look at how to break down the problem and take necessary action to make a change. We assess and analyse unrealistic or unhelpful negative thoughts and language and determine core beliefs to change unhelpful thoughts and behaviours to something more positive.
Making changes and breaking unhelpful habits and unhelpful patterns does take time and requires some motivation and perseverance. So part of what I do is to be your support and partner and help you move forwards through our time working together.
How I work with you using CBT techniques is to help you identify what event triggers your behaviour or emotional response and then work with you to identify mood, what your thought patterns and core beliefs are and so adjust your negative thoughts. This enables you to change your emotions and your behaviour to more productive ones. Some examples of strategies might include thought journaling, calming techniques, altering cognitive distortions, breath work, challenging core beliefs, muscle relaxation, visualisation desensitisation and emotion regulation.
If you want help with reducing negative thoughts, feeling overwhelm, anxiety, or working through a troubling or stress inducing situation that you are struggling with feel free to drop me a line on 07929 264499 or send me a message and I’ll get right back to you.
I am based just outside of the beautiful city of Hereford in the UK. Hereford is easily accessible and near to Ledbury, Worcester, Cheltenham, Gloucester and mid Wales. I offer home visits, online support, and chats, meeting at a mutually convenient venue or you can always come and see me if you wish.
Be well
Caroline
Additional sources:
Centre of Excellence
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