Online CBT for Anxiety, Health, Phobias, and Depression

COGNITIVE BEHAVIOURAL THERAPY (CBT)

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, or CBT, is a short-term therapeutic model which has proven effective with a wide range of psychological difficulties, from anxiety to low mood, phobias, depression, and trauma. CBT is based on the impact of what people think on how they feel and behave. In a cognitive behavioural therapy treatment plan, client and therapist explore together the interaction between unhelpful thinking patterns and ensuing distressing feelings and maladaptive behaviours and their reciprocal reinforcement. The aim of CBT is to break the vicious cycles in order to enable the person more flexibility to pursue their goals in terms of relationships, work, leisure, etc. The CBT model has been recommended by the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines.

The cognitive part of CBT specifically refers to the meaning created by people when they think about situations, symptoms and events in their lives, which in turn can create beliefs about themselves, others, the future, or the world.

The behavioural part of CBT refers to a response to those situations, such as avoidance, excessive/compulsive or reduced activity. Client and CBT specialist work together to ensure that the client feels safe enough to test out their beliefs, fears, assumptions and reactions to events. By using cognitive techniques and behavioural experiments, people can become more aware of their reactions to events and how to adopt other ways of perceiving and reacting. By focusing on the here and now, CBT helps to directly target distressing symptoms, reduce distress, challenge thinking patterns and promote helpful responses

Build goal-oriented treatment interventions using a CBT treatment plan

Whilst CBT has a present focus, it does pay attention to past experiences, whether earlier on in life or more recent ones. Our learning history helps us understand the meaning we make of what happens around us on a regular basis. We identify core beliefs (about ourselves, others, and life in general) and rules and assumptions (i.e., what certain events mean and how we must behave) as guiding the way in which we deal with current circumstances.

The strength of CBT lies in offering goal-oriented, problem-focused skills-based treatment interventions and evaluate their impact on everyday life. Common elements of CBT are agenda-setting, homework and behavioural experiments, and thought challenging.

How can online CBT help you?

If you have any questions about building a CBT treatment plan or using online CBT for anxiety, health anxieties, phobias, or depression, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. As a London-based CBT specialist, I’ve helped clients across the UK build effective online CBT treatment plans. Please contact me to discuss how the cognitive behavioural therapy model may be of help to address your difficulties.

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