Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is an approach that looks at the links between our thoughts, our emotions and how we behave.  Focussing more on the here and now, CBT is a therapy in which you and your therapist look for patterns that may be keeping problems going and to develop skills to help you overcome them.

Very often, the thoughts that we have can be problematic; they may be self-critical, make assumptions about other people or predictions regarding the future.  These can result in us feeling anxious, low in mood and impact our self-esteem.  Although we cannot stop or control our thoughts, there are ways in which we can adapt our responses to them thoughts to improve our mood and wellbeing.

CBT has a very good evidence base for difficulties including anxiety and depression.  This means that research trials have consistently found it to have a positive and sustained impact on alleviating the distress and problems associated with these emotional difficulties.  CBT is a very active therapy and will involve learning new skills which you will practice both within and in between sessions.  The idea is to build a ‘toolkit’ of skills that will help you to navigate and cope with the struggles that life can throw our way.