Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
A structured, problem-focused therapy that works on the thinking patterns and behaviour keeping a difficulty going.
- Grew out of
- Behaviour therapy and Aaron Beck's cognitive therapy
- Typical course
- 5–15 sessions (NHS); 6–18 hour-long sessions, 1–3 weeks apart (Wikipedia)
- Between sessions
- Homework — practising the skill in real situations
- Recommended by
- NHS, American Psychological Association, American Psychiatric Association
What it is
CBT combines principles from cognitive psychology and behaviourism. It works from the premise that distorted thinking and unhelpful behaviour play a part in developing and maintaining many psychological difficulties.
The NHS describes it plainly as “a type of talking therapy where a therapist helps you to change how you think and act”. It is problem-focused and action-oriented rather than open-ended.
Beyond mental health, the NHS also lists CBT as helping with insomnia, chronic pain, irritable bowel syndrome and chronic fatigue syndrome.
What it looks like in session
- 1Talking through a difficult situation and how it made you think, feel and act
- 2Socratic questioning — being asked questions that let you find the gap in a belief yourself
- 3Cognitive restructuring: questioning unhelpful thoughts and beliefs rather than accepting them
- 4Behavioural experiments that test a prediction instead of arguing about it
- 5Exposure work for avoidance, approached in steps
- 6Practice between sessions, sometimes tracked in worksheets or a diary
What the evidence says
The NHS uses CBT for depression including postnatal depression, anxiety disorders, PTSD, eating disorders, bipolar disorder and personality disorders.
CBT is recommended by the American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association and the NHS, with research support across depression, anxiety, PTSD, OCD, eating disorders and substance use.
Criticisms are also on record: relatively high drop-out rates, and a tendency to target symptoms rather than what sits underneath them.
Nothing here is a prediction about your own treatment.
Often used for
Wondering if CBT is right for you?
You do not have to decide in advance. We work that out together in the first session, and often use more than one method.
Book a SessionOther methods we use
Dialectical Behavior Therapy
A skills-based therapy for emotions that arrive fast and hard, built on holding acceptance and change at the same time.
Read moreMBSRMindfulness-Based Stress Reduction
An eight-week training programme in mindfulness — attention, body awareness and movement — used to change how stress lands.
Read morePsychodynamicPsychodynamic Therapy
Longer-term work on the patterns underneath a problem — where they came from, and what keeps them running.
Read more