Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
CBT is increasing in its popularity due to its highly effective outcomes. CBT has been shown to be very effective to help people overcome all sorts of issues including anxiety, anger, bereavement, depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, relationship issues, panic attacks, fears and phobias, self-esteem, stress and trauma.
It is beyond the scope of this website to explain in detail Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). However, to give you some brief insight into CBT, typically it is short to medium term therapy (i.e. anywhere between 4 - 20 sessions, which each last for 50 minutes).
CBT is based on the assumption that the way we think about things effects the way that we feel about them. So, if we have a lot of negative thinking strategies, for example a pessimistic outlook on life and think that everything will turn out badly for us, that we will fail, or think that people do not like us, and so on, then we are likely to feel depressed or anxious.
Of course, many of us are not aware of what we are thinking at all. The work of therapy is to help you to identify what you are thinking, and the way that your thinking affects your life and actions, and to challenge your thinking to enable you to consider alternative ways of thinking about situations and people and help you to improve your life.
CBT involves doing "homework" in between sessions, and this may consist of reading, writing journals and diaries and "experiments" to try out new ways of behaving in situations.
Eye Movement Desentization Reprocessing
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing) is a powerful short term therapy. It was originally developed by Shapiro in her therapeutic work with Veterans from the Vietnamese war. It is now globally recognised as being effective for work with all sorts of trauma and is a NICE recommended therapy for treating Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). EMDR can also be very effective in working with recovery from sexual abuse and traumatic incidents and can be very effective in alleviating anxiety, intrusive thoughts or memories and nightmares. Each EMDR therapy session is usually 90 minutes long.
