Cognitive Behavioural Therapy | CBT Therapy London

What is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy?

Harrison Psychology Group specialises in providing CBT Therapy in London. This type of therapy focusses on changing our thinking habits and behaviours. The way we think about ourselves, others and the world has everything to do with the way we feel and function. For example, if we tend to be very self-critical and beat ourselves for any given thing, we likely elicit feelings of sadness, depression and low self-esteem. If we perpetually worry that certain things will go wrong in our near or distant future, we will likely feel quite anxious or panicky. If we ruminate, worrying about the same thing over and over again, we create an obsessive and preoccupied state of mind and become quite agitated.

The issue here is that we are all taking our thoughts far too seriously. We assume that our thoughts are accurate reflections of fact… ‘If I think it, it must be true.’ In reality, our thoughts are frequently inaccurate and certainly not objectively factual. Our thoughts are much more so subjective stories that we tell ourselves and the particular story line we weave in our minds is influenced by our past experiences with family, friends, relationships and general life events. So, the thoughts of a person who has been raised in a family home where they were consistently criticised, neglected or belittled are going to be very different from the thoughts of a person who was raised in a home where they were nurtured, supported, encouraged and loved. If we have had difficult life experiences we might be plagued by thoughts that hurt us or make us fearful of the future. If we don’t learn how to questions or challenge those thoughts and can cause is a great amount of emotional distress.

How does Cognitive Behavioural Therapy work?

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is a type of therapy that aims to challenge our thinking habits. In working with the therapist, a person begins to identify their particular thinking styles and tendencies. It doesn’t take long to identify some pretty problematic thought patterns. Once unhelpful thoughts are identified we work to challenge them and develop new ways of thinking about ourselves, others and the world around us. This then helps to alleviate the distress we were feeling in response to the thoughts.

When should I get CBT?

A good rule of thumb is that your way of being in the world is not a problem unless it’s causing a problem. No one is perfect and we all struggle in some ways within ourselves and in our relationships with others. This is perfectly normal. If, however, you find that your struggles begin to negatively impact your relationships, work-life, confidence, productivity, engagement in life or your ability to function day to day then it’s likely a good time to seek help. Research shows us that CBT is a very effective therapy for a multitude of problems including anxiety, depression, relationship strain, OCD, low self confidence, anger issues and more.

What are the shortcomings of CBT?

CBT is often spoken about as if it’s a cure all for every kind of struggle when this is far from the truth. At HPG, we believe that CBT is a strong introduction therapy and a good tool when used integratively with other therapies. CBT helps us to understand the power of thought and realise that so many of our problems actually come from how we make sense of a given problem rather than directly from the problem itself. CBT is also very powerful when dealing with situations where we aren’t being our most rational. For example, this is a solid therapy to use if you are worried about getting fired from your job for making a mistake when you’ve had years of excellent reviews and frequent promotions.

CBT has its limits. It does not tend to be a good therapy when used to help someone struggling with a very real and objectively painful situation. For example, if you’ve recently lost a friend to suicide it would be normal and expected for you to have all kinds of negative and pained thoughts. CBT would not be appropriate here. CBT also falls short when working with individuals who struggle with post traumatic stress disorder. While it can have its place in helping those who suffer with trauma, it is our opinion that it should not be the main form of therapy. CBT is also not the best therapy to address very real problems that we simply cannot change. Sometimes our life circumstances just are difficult and do cause us a great deal of pain and shifting from that might seem impossible. Fortunately, there are other forms of therapy that are much more helpful in helping us work in these areas.

What’s the scoop on CBT?

CBT is a good therapy that certainly has it’s place but it’s probably best if it’s practiced in conjunction with other therapies and certainly not to be applied to every and all problems. At HPG we practice integratively and use CBT along with therapeutic approaches, as needed and wanted by our clients.