The other half of the toolkit
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy in Borough Green
CBT is structured, practical and well evidenced. Where a specific belief is doing identifiable damage, it is often the most efficient route through.
What CBT is
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy starts from the observation that what you think, what you do and how you feel are locked together. Change one deliberately and the others shift.
In practice it is one of the most structured therapies there is. You identify the thoughts that fire in a particular situation, test them against evidence rather than accepting them, and change the behaviour that has been keeping the whole loop running. It is collaborative, time-limited and focused on the present rather than the distant past.
It has the largest evidence base of any talking therapy and is what the NHS offers first for most anxiety and depression.
When CBT is the right tool
- A specific, identifiable belief is causing the trouble — "if I make a mistake people will think I am a fraud", "if I do not check the door something terrible will happen".
- A clear behavioural loop is maintaining the problem: checking, avoiding, reassurance-seeking, safety behaviours.
- You want structure, homework and a measurable sense of progress.
- The problem is reasonably contained — a phobia, panic disorder, a discrete piece of health anxiety.
- Sleep. CBT for insomnia is unusually effective and often works quickly.
When ACT tends to suit better
- You already know the thought is irrational and it changes nothing.
- The difficulty is real and not going away — grief, chronic pain, a diagnosis.
- Cravings and urges, where the aim is to stop obeying them rather than to dispute them.
- Shame, which tends to win arguments against you.
- You have done CBT before, it helped for a while, and it eroded.
A fuller comparison, if you are trying to choose.
How I actually work
Honestly? Most of the time, both. The division above is cleaner on a website than it is in a room. A typical piece of work might use CBT's structure to map what is happening and break the maintaining behaviours, then ACT's approach to values and urges for the part where willpower alone would fail.
What I will not do is apply one model rigidly because it is the one I happen to like. We start with your problem and choose the tool that fits it.
A note on checking credentials. "CBT therapist" is not a protected title in the UK — anyone may use it. Ask any therapist you are considering, including me, which body they are registered with and what their membership number is, and check it on that body's public register. It takes two minutes and it is entirely reasonable to do.
Related
Common questions
Is CBT better than ACT for addiction?
CBT has the larger evidence base for substance use overall. ACT has particular strengths with cravings, shame and the question of what you are stopping for. I use both, which is not a fudge — it is what the problem usually requires.
How many CBT sessions are typical?
Classic CBT protocols run somewhere between eight and twenty sessions depending on the problem. Focused work on a phobia or insomnia can be shorter.
Is there homework?
Yes, and it matters more than most people expect. The work between sessions is where the change happens; the hour with me is where we design it and review it.
Can I have CBT online?
Yes. CBT translates well to video. More on online sessions.
Talk it through first
The first step is a short phone call. No commitment, no pressure — just a conversation about what is going on and whether I am the right person to help.
Free 15-minute call · Confidential · Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays, 9am to 5pm