Therapeutic Approach
Identifying and shifting the thought patterns and behaviours that maintain anxiety, depression, and distress in everyday life.
Skills-Based
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is one of the most extensively researched psychological treatments available. It is based on a straightforward but powerful idea: the way we think affects how we feel, and how we feel affects what we do. When those thought patterns become distorted or unhelpful, they can maintain cycles of anxiety, depression, avoidance, and distress — even when the original circumstances have changed.
In CBT, we work to identify those patterns — the automatic thoughts, core beliefs, and behavioural responses that are keeping you stuck — and to examine them with curiosity rather than acceptance. We ask: is this thought accurate? Is it helpful? What would change if you related to it differently?
I use CBT as part of my integrative approach — particularly for clients managing anxiety, depression, or specific phobias, and as a complement to deeper processing work. The practical, skills-based nature of CBT can provide tangible tools for navigating daily life while more fundamental shifts are underway.
Book a Free ConsultationWhat the Work Involves
CBT is structured, collaborative, and practically focused. Sessions typically involve both exploration and skill-building, with the understanding that change happens through practise between sessions as much as within them.
We identify automatic thoughts and cognitive distortions — catastrophising, all-or-nothing thinking, mind-reading — and examine the evidence for and against them. This builds a more flexible, realistic relationship with your own thinking.
Many unhelpful patterns are maintained by avoidance. Behavioural experiments test the predictions anxiety makes — and often reveal that the feared outcome is less likely or less catastrophic than it seemed. This is how avoidance shrinks and your world expands.
Below automatic thoughts sit deeper core beliefs — about oneself, others, and the world. CBT creates a space to examine these foundational assumptions and develop more nuanced, compassionate alternatives.
CBT equips you with concrete tools: thought records, activity scheduling, graded exposure, and problem-solving skills. These are not gimmicks — they are evidence-based techniques that build genuine capacity for managing distress.