Robert Hudson: Integrative Psychotherapy, Counselling, Coaching & Consultancy
Robert Hudson: Integrative Psychotherapy, Counselling, Coaching & Consultancy
It is a way of talking about:
CBT can help you to change how you think ("Cognitive") and what you do ("Behaviour)". These changes can help you to feel better. Unlike some of the other talking treatments, it focuses on the "here and now" problems and difficulties. Instead of focussing on the causes of your distress or symptoms in the past, it looks for ways to improve your state of mind now.
It has been found to be helpful in:
CBT can help you to make sense of overwhelming problems by breaking them down into smaller parts. This makes it easier to see how they are connected and how they affect you. These parts are:
From this can follow:
Each of these areas can affect the others. How you think about a problem can affect how you feel physically and emotionally. It can also alter what you do about it.
There are helpful and unhelpful ways of reacting to most situations, depending on how you think about them:
Situation: You've had a bad day, feel fed up, and so go out shopping. As you walk down the road, someone you know walks by and, apparently, ignores you.| Unhelpful | Helpful | |
|---|---|---|
| Thoughts: | He/she ignored me - they don't like me. | He/she looks a bit wrapped up in themselves - I wonder if there's something wrong? |
| Emotional Feelings: | Low, sad and rejected. | Concerned for the other person. |
| Physical: | Stomach cramps, low energy, feel sick. | None - feel comfortable. |
| Action: | Go home and avoid them. | Get in touch to make sure they're OK. |
If you go home feeling depressed, you'll probably brood on what has happened and feel worse. If you get in touch with the other person, there's a good chance you'll feel better about yourself. If you don't, you won't have the chance to correct any misunderstandings about what they think of you - and you will probably feel worse.