What is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)?

Change your mind, change your mood, with cognitive behavioural therapy – the word’s first choice evidence based psychotherapy for life changing skills that stay with you forever …

CBT and Feeling Good 30 Wicklow Street Dublin D02 Y037 Ireland

  • At CBT sessions, you work with a therapist / trainer to learn and apply great coping skills through awareness and self-regulation of your thoughts and feelings and behaviours.

  • We learn to identify our automatic ‘bad thinking habits’, and to develop more rational and appropriate interpretations and responses to events and situations, issue by issue, step by step.

  • We learn to develop better coping skills for stressors and challenging events and situations – consciously and deliberately, over time. “What would an emotionally intelligent approach to this issue look like? What outcome does my current approach give me?”

  • Modern CBT is not just about thoughts and emotions – it also includes neurobiology and understanding anxiety as a physical reaction.

  • It’s a very practical measured and proven ‘evidence based’ psychotherapy, and is the worlds fastest growing ‘first choice’ therapy – to develop new habits that stick and give new better outcomes.

About one to one CBT sessions…

  • Low Intensity style CBT is a fast intervention therapy – improvements often show within just a few sessions, which means it’s a lower cost to access for those who don’t have the inclination or time or money for long term deep counselling. It is also an alternative if you have already been in more traditional talking therapy but haven’t had a great outcome.

  • It’s a ‘psycho-educational’ model in which the client effectively ‘becomes their own therapist’, building new habits that stick.

  • Studies show that engaged learners can develop life changing skills that stay with them forever (your ‘toolbox).

  • CBT handouts and worksheet resources can be used in your own time and at your own pace, building a toolbox that works for you.

  • My original CBT downloadable resources site is regularly ranked on Top 10 CBT Blogs in the World listings, and has over 1.3 million views and hundreds of thousands of downloads by mental health professionals all over the world.

Open my Contact Me page to make a booking or enquiry

What is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy?

With its emphasis on collaboration, practical tools, and evidence-based techniques, CBT is proven to empower individuals in awareness and self-regulation for emotional well-being and personal growth.

CBT helps us with understanding how we judge and interpret the things that happen to us, what significance or meaning we give to them, and how that style of thinking influences our feelings and behaviours. Modern CBT also helps you to understand the role your body and nervous system plays in stress hormone surges, and to identify how dysregulation / anxiety interferes with our response to the world.

Classic CBT has been around since the 60’s in various forms. Many agree it has two main ‘founding fathers’: Albert Ellis and Aaron Beck. Both had trained as psychoanalysts in the 1950s, and both were essentially research scientists as well as practitioners, meaning they measured data and outcomes – and both were ultimately unhappy with delving into the deep subconscious mind as a treatment, because it didn’t give good outcomes, (meaning the clients ‘didn’t get better’) – and both focussed on the same findings, that how the person explains the world to themselves largely causes how they feel and behave – and that stress distorts thinking, which can cause overly negative feelings and self sabotaging behaviours – but we can literally learn to un-distort our thinking, consciously and deliberately, which will help to regulate how we feel and behave in productive healthy ways. Think different, feel different, behave different, with CBT.

Check out my regularly ranked ‘Top 10 CBT Blog in the World‘ resources site for more extensive information and CBT handouts and worksheets. (My work is used by mental health professionals all over the world.). Check out a CBT for the Workplace newsletter.

Scroll down for more information… Or book an intro session for €60 now through my Contact page

Intro Session offer in-person or online

€60

Standard Session in-person or online

€75

Contact Form

CHANGE YOUR MIND | CHANGE YOUR MOOD | CHANGE YOUR LIFE |  WITH CBT…

CBT is different to the traditional talking therapies in that it is a psycho-educational approach that teaches clients to apply methods and techniques to their problems – effectively becoming their own therapist by understanding and managing their thinking (cognitive), feeling (emotional and physical), and doing (behaviour), for a better life experience. According to CBT, it’s largely our interpretation and processing of events that leads to our upsets. Put simply, we human beings can often cause our own upset, therefore we can uncause it.

CBT helps us to change how we think (“Cognitive”) and what we do (“Behaviour)”.

These changes help us to feel good and enjoy life and stay motivated even in troubling times. Most people, at one time or another need some help in understanding ways to improve their life. Sometimes it’s overwhelming life stress or a particular crisis that causes negative changes for a person. In these times people seek to gain insight and acceptance about themselves and to achieve personal growth. Sometimes it’s not about ‘what’s wrong with me?’, it’s about ‘what happened to me?’

CBT is for anyone who is unhappy with the way he or she feels and acts, and wants to change. Unlike other treatments, it focuses on the “here and now” of problems and difficulties. It looks for ways to improve your state of mind now / today.

SIMPLE SUMMARY – Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a type of therapy that focuses on helping people understand how their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are connected. It is based on the idea that our thoughts affect how we feel and how we behave.

In CBT, a therapist works with an individual to identify and challenge negative or unhelpful thoughts and beliefs. These thoughts often contribute to problems such as anxiety, depression, or unhealthy behaviours. By examining these ‘attributional styles’ (this is a psychology term for how we explain the world to ourselves), a person can learn to reframe them with more realistic and evidence based and positive ones.

CBT also involves learning and practicing new coping skills and strategies. The goal is to change unhelpful patterns of behavior and develop healthier ways of thinking and responding to different situations. This can involve techniques such as problem-solving, relaxation exercises, or gradual exposure to fears or anxieties.

Overall, CBT aims to help individuals gain a better understanding of their own thoughts and emotions, and to develop skills to manage them effectively. It is a practical and action-oriented approach that can be helpful for a wide range of mental health concerns.

Low intensity Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is a psycho-educational therapy model that aims to address mild to moderate stress disorders using best practice CBT, but with an aim to skill you up with guided techniques and strategies in fewer sessions compared to traditional long term psychotherapy / talking therapy. It aims to help you to build awareness and self regulation of how you think and feel and behave, right from the very first session.

I am a CBT specialist – and my original CBT ‘homework’ is used by mental health professionals all over the world.

Here are some key features of low intensity CBT:

Structured and Guided: LI CBT typically involves one to one sessions where specific techniques and strategies are applied to your real life real time issues in a collaboration and partnership with the therapist.

Focus on Self-Help: One of the main features of LI CBT is an emphasis on skilling the client up with easy to understand self-help strategies. Clients are provided with handout/workbook materials to help them apply CBT techniques in their daily lives – to build a ‘tool-box’ of self management. Don’t like the idea of ‘homework’? Don’t worry, we’ll do it during session.

Briefer Treatment: LI CBT usually involves fewer sessions compared to traditional psychotherapy. The exact number can vary depending on the individual’s needs and the nature of the problem being addressed, and whether you are getting a good outcome (with real change) – it is an organic process tailored uniquely to you, at your pace.

Overall, low intensity CBT offers an accessible and cost-effective option for individuals seeking help with stress and anxiety concerns, allowing them to learn practical skills of awareness and self-regulation to improve their well-being.

CBT & Feeling Good Training Programmes and Trainers are approved for the National Register of Trainers. (Reg # 903680.) In full compliance with the Qualifications (Education and Training) Act Ireland 1999. 

  • LI CBT is often used to address specific mild to moderate stress disorders – anxiety or depression – social anxiety, public speaking anxiety, phobias, OCD, and other targeted issues.
  • LI CBT may not be suitable for more severe or complex bio-medical mental health issues – and/or it can be a complementary treatment if other therapy or medication has not proven successful for you.
  • Book a no-strings introductory one hour session for only €60 – see if it fits you… click HERE to view an info flyer – or simply call, email, or use my contact form to make a booking for a session in the 30 Wicklow Street Dublin city centre office, or online.
  • Thereafter the one hour one-to-one sessions are – €75
  • The intensive two hour one-to-one session – €145 – Mon to Fri – hours 11am to 7:30pm
  • The intensive four hour one-to-one session – €280 -Mon to Fri – hours 11am to 7:30pm
  • Saturdays are a premium rate (special offer does not apply): 1 x hour €85 – 2 x hour €160 – 1/2 Day €320 – afternoons only, 1pm to 5pm
  • Bespoke sessions are available tailored exactly to suit you – just email your request…
  • Online sessions are available, to include emailed homework – (Zoom, Teams, WhatsApp, Google Meets)