Evidence-based psychological therapy

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is a structured, short-term talking therapy that explores the relationship between thoughts, feelings and behaviours.

CBT helps people examine how they think, feel and behave in response to events, situations and experiences. It supports people to consider whether some of these ways of understanding things may be unrealistic, unhelpful or contributing to their distress.

The central idea behind CBT is that it is not necessarily a situation or event itself that causes distress, but the way it is interpreted or understood — the sense a person makes of it. This helps explain how two people can experience the same event but feel and respond very differently.

CBT suggests that thoughts, feelings, physical sensations and behaviours are all interconnected. By exploring how someone thinks about a situation, therapy can help develop a clearer understanding of how they are also feeling and acting.

Therapy then focuses on identifying more helpful and balanced ways of thinking and responding.

CBT mainly focuses on the here and now rather than exploring the past in depth. Your therapist will, however, be interested in earlier experiences where these help make sense of how you interpret and respond to situations today.

It is a collaborative therapy, meaning that you and your therapist work together to understand your difficulties and promote meaningful change. CBT will usually involve trying out ideas, strategies or exercises between sessions.

Treatment commonly lasts between 6 and 20 sessions, with appointments usually taking place weekly and lasting around one hour.

CBT is supported by a substantial body of research and is recommended by NICE for a range of difficulties, including anxiety, depression, OCD, PTSD and eating disorders.