APPROACH

Introduction

Life can be difficult sometimes and things can go wrong. Losing your job, breaking up with a partner or having relationship and family problems are some of life’s very common problems. When individuals experience difficult situations in their life, it is very likely that they will develop negative thinking, start becoming pessimistic and lose faith in themselves or their abilities. Many times they might feel stuck in a vicious circle of negativity, feeling unable to get out of it.

This is when Cognitive Behaviour Therapy can help.  The focus of therapy is based on: the problems or issues that clients face; how they affect them; what the consequences are; possible problems they create; and how they can change them. The therapist and client, discuss the history of how these problems have arisen, so that they can both understand the present situation. A treatment plan is then formed and executed.

What is Cognitive Behaviour Therapy?

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) is an evidence-based treatment proven to help people with a variety of problems such as depression, anxiety, self-esteem and confidence. The main principle is that thoughts affect the mood and consequently the behavior. In therapy, clients learn how to identify and modify their thoughts, which quickly results in them feeling and acting differently. Clients learn techniques and coping strategies to help them deal with and manage difficult situations outside the therapy room. In CBT, the client and therapist have an equal, collaborative relationship working towards the client’s best outcome.

The benefits of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy

• CBT aims to be time limited, practical, structured and less expensive when compared with other forms of therapy.
• Clients feel very much in control of the progress and process.
• Therapy is educational; clients learn to become their own therapist so that they are more able to resolve other problems on their own in the future.
• Clients develop an insight and understanding of themselves and gain a greater self-awareness and acceptance.
• Clients learn to change beliefs and thinking processes, and thereby an improved emotional state and quality of life.
• Clients learn to control and manage themselves and their urges.
• Clients develop new and more helpful skills, abilities, and coping strategies.
• Clients improve self-care, as well as their relationship with themselves and with others.
• Clients change unhelpful past negative behaviors and replace them with new more helpful ones.
• CBT is an evidence-based research method, recommend by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE).
• CBT has become the first psychotherapeutic method recommended by medical professionals in the private and public sector in the UK.

How Cognitive Behavioural Therapy works

During the initial assessment session, Ms Iordanidou gets the opportunity to get to know the client, explore and understand what the concerns are, how they affect the client’s life.

Assessment continues for another one or two sessions. Each session lasts for 50 minutes and it takes place once a week. At the end of the assessment, the therapist and the client agree collaboratively on a treatment plan based on the client’s needs. This is an important stage as both the therapist and the client discuss the initial focus of therapy. An introduction to the main principles of CBT is also given.

At the end of the assessment and once therapy starts there is a lot of psychological education about the client’s problem. The client learns how to identify and change his thoughts, feelings and behaviors. Therapy involves client’s active participation, so agreed homework is given to the client at the end of each session.

Cognitive behaviour therapy can be used to treat the below:

• Anxiety
• Depression
• Low self esteem
• Low confidence
• Relationship difficulties
• Stress
• Assertiveness difficulties
• Phobias
• Eating disorders
• Weight management
• Sexual difficulties