Counselling and CBT
How does counselling or CBT help?
Whether you are going through persistent feelings of sadness, hopelessness, lack of interest or feeling worried and anxious, there is hope and help!
First and foremost, I do a thorough assessment to understand your difficulties, the different contributing factors, triggers and most importantly any unhelpful patterns of thinking and behaving that are maintaining those problems. This guides our treatment plan and you are then supported step by step to learn and practice a variety of skills and techniques to overcome your challenges.
Emotional distress can impact work, home management, social life, private leisure activities and our ability to form and maintain relationships. By helping you deal with your problems, therapy also helps you to do the things you used to do once again and re-engage in all areas of life.
What if I am feeling nervous and unsure about starting therapy?
The process of therapy is very personal and it can be hard to open up to a new person especially regarding sensitive and distressing personal issues. To make this easier, I will support you during the session to explain what you are going through by asking relevant questions and making you feel comfortable enough to do so.
It is completely understandable that you may not be sure whether you want regular weekly sessions or just have one or two. I therefore offer both these options. Whatever you choose, there is no expectation to commit to a certain number of sessions. You may stop whenever you feel is right for you. Once you make that decision to end, we summarise your key learning from therapy so that you can refer to it in future.
What Is the difference between Counselling and CBT and which one will benefit me?
CBT is a more structured, goal oriented therapy, often following specific treatment plans for depression and anxiety disorders. Examples of anxiety disorders include generalised anxiety (excessive worry about many different things), social anxiety, OCD, health anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and body dysmorphic disorder.
Counselling does not follow disorder specific treatment protocols and is helpful for many kinds of issues like marriage and relationship problems, bereavement, grief, loss, domestic abuse, life transitions etc.
With depression, the approach selected depends on the client’s goals. Counselling might be a better option when the client mainly wants to explore and process difficult experiences that may have triggered or are contributing to the depression but have not been processed while CBT might be a good choice if the goals are to get active again and change any unhelpful beliefs and behaviours that are maintaining the depression.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) skills
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is another very useful and empowering approach. I therefore also introduce at least some basic ACT skills at some point in therapy as these can help completely change our attitude and relationship to distress. It is a very different and effective way of dealing with and managing difficult thoughts and feelings so that they don’t hinder us from focusing on our values.
How is having therapy different from getting support from a friend or a family member?
Although support from friends and family can be invaluable, therapy is different in many aspects, including the following:
- A therapist has expertise to help people overcome emotional and psychological difficulties.
- During therapy you work towards ‘specific‘ goals to improve your wellbeing.
- A well-qualified therapist is able to help you achieve this in a way that you feel fully accepted without being judged.
- A regular weekly session time is set to ensure you work consistently and progressively on your challenges.
- Unlike with a friend or a family member, you can freely discuss your difficulties without worrying about the person you are talking to.
- The help that you get is professional and confidentiality is taken care of.
Duration, frequency and number of sessions
All sessions are of 50 minutes duration.
As mentioned above you are welcome to book standalone one-off sessions if you prefer. However, if you decide to have regular therapy then the sessions take place once a week at the same day and time.
As we start working together you can see if you would like to have short term counselling or CBT (6-12 sessions) or continue for longer, but there is no minimum commitment at all and you can continue as long as it feels right for you. You just need to let me know when you decide to stop, giving atleast 24 hours notice before the next session, so that I can offer the slot to someone else who needs it.
What can therapy help with?
Therapy, whether counselling or CBT can help with a variety of issues. You may find it useful to visit the common concerns page.
A few examples of the common problems dealt with in therapy are:
Marriage and Relationship Issues (including difficult relationship with in-laws).
Depression
Anxiety (Generalized Anxiety, Health Anxiety, Social Anxiety)
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder or OCD
Bereavement and Loss
Childhood issues (including physical violence, emotional or sexual abuse) affecting the present
Domestic Abuse
General dissatisfaction with life
Low Self-esteem
Panic attacks
Parenting concerns
Separation/Divorce
Trauma
Binge eating
Bulimia