Insight Therapies NI provides Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Counselling in Northern Ireland, to help with a range of different problems you may have.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is a talking therapy which helps you to resolve problems by understanding how your thoughts, feelings, and your behaviours create unhelpful patterns in your life, and helping you to change those patterns to something more helpful. CBT is focused on helping you to understand how to recognise and alter these patterns yourself so that you become your own therapist. For this reason CBT tends to be a shorter therapy than many others, requiring a few weeks (unless the issues are long standing).
Does CBT Work?
CBT is recommended in the NICE guidelines for treatment of many anxiety conditions as well as depression and sleeping problems including:
- anxiety disorders
- panic attacks
- depression
- obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)
- post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- tinnitus
- insomnia
There is also good evidence that CBT is helpful in helping people cope with the symptoms of many other conditions, including:
- chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS)
- irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
- fibromyalgia
- chronic pain
- sleep difficulties
- low self-esteem
How does CBT Work?
CBT works on the principle that our thoughts (cognitions), our emotions and our behaviours are all connected. If we can understand these connections we are able to identify patterns of unhelpful thinking styles and behaviours in areas of our life which are not working for us. Changing one of these individual parts can affect the other two. Once we understand these patterns we become empowered to alter them and to create change in our lives.
Through CBT you will become more aware of your thinking styles and how they impact your emotional state. You will be able to identify whether your behaviours are moving you towards the life you want, or are leaving you stuck. You will learn to challenge automatic assumptions to help you create change, and to better cope with distressing situations. This ultimately builds confidence and a sense of self-reliance.
Mental health is like physical health in many ways. It requires learning skills, and practising those skills in order to keep us mentally fit. CBT teaches you those skills and give you the confidence to practice them.
You can find out more about CBT in this video
How many sessions will I need?
The number of sessions depends on the difficulties you are having, and your goals for therapy. The NICE guidelines suggest that CBT may last for anything between 6-20 sessions. If you would like to discuss your situation to see if a talking therapy would help, please don’t hesitate to contact us.