What is CBT

Cognitive behavioural therapies, or CBT, are a range of talking therapies based on the theory that thoughts, feelings, what we do and how our body feels are all connected. If we change one of these we can alter the others.

When people feel worried or distressed we often fall into patterns of thinking and responding which can worsen how we feel. CBT works to help us notice and change problematic thinking styles or behaviour patterns so we can feel better. CBT has lots of strategies that can help you in the here and now.

CBT works

CBT has a good evidence base for a wide range of mental health problems in adults, older adults, children and young people. This research has been carefully reviewed by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), who provide independent, evidence-based guidance for the NHS on the most effective ways to treat disease and ill health.

How CBT is delivered

CBT can be offered in individual sessions with a therapist or as part of a group. The number of sessions you need depends on the difficulty you need help with. This will usually be between six and twenty sessions, typically of an hour long.

Your therapist can help you to notice any patterns in thinking or behaviours which might be keeping problems going and can offer information about different CBT techniques which could help you.

You and your therapist will discuss your specific difficulties and set goals for you to achieve. CBT is not a quick fix – it involves hard work during and between sessions e.g. keeping track of what you are thinking, feeling and doing, or trying out new ways of thinking or acting. Your therapist will not make decisions for you. They will help you decide what difficulties you want to work on in order to help you improve your situation. Your therapist will be able to advise you on how to continue using CBT techniques in your daily life after your treatment ends.

What is EMDR?

EMDR is an acronym for ‘Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing’

EMDR is recommended by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) in the treatment of trauma.

EMDR is a therapy that was developed to resolve symptoms resulting from disturbing and unresolved life experiences. This could be a major one incident trauma or a situation that was on-going.  A person may have a series of experiences that are linked by meaning to the person. 

EMDR is a powerful psychological treatment method that was developed by an American clinical psychologist, Dr Francine Shapiro, in the 1980s.

As a Senior Research Fellow at the Mental Research Institute (in Palo Alto, USA), she published the first research data to support the benefits of the therapy in the 1989.  EMDR kick starts the brain's own ability to heal, the brain and central nervous system process past, stuck experiences and can  reduce distress and lead to post traumatic growth.

A wealth of research has been conducted demonstrating its benefits in treating psychological trauma arising from experiences as diverse as war related experiences, childhood sexual and/or physical abuse or neglect, bullying and other adverse childhood events, natural disaster, assault, surgical trauma, road traffic accidents and workplace accidents.  Since its original development, EMDR is also increasingly used to help individuals with other issues such as grief, panic and performance anxiety.  EMDR has been found to be of benefit to children as well as adults.

Therapists always have a background in mental health before undertaking training in EMDR.