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The 1st CBT Session - What To Expect

Topic: Therapy and CounselingBy Dr Gray, The British CBT & Counselling ServicePublished Recently added

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Your Psychologist will offer you weekly (50 minute). Your treatment will begin with a period of assessment which will last between 1-3 sessions. Here you will be able to discuss in detail the problems that have led you to seek therapy. Your Psychologist will also ask you more general questions about your family, work and home life in order to build a complete picture of you and how and why your problems have developed and persisted. There will also be an opportunity to discuss how Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) will be helpful for you and your psychologist will be able to give you an estimate of the number of sessions that you will need. In order to get the most out of this first session we suggest that you spend some time before your appointment thinking about what you would like to achieve during your treatment by considering the following questions: 1. What aspects of your life would you like to change? 2. What aspect would you like to stay the same? 3. What needs to happen for these changes to occur? 4. What might get in the way of making these changes? 5. How will I know when my treatment has been worthwhile? Treatmentr Once your treatment has begun you will meet with your Psychologist once a week at the same time for a session lasting 50 minutes. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) aims to enable you to become your own therapist and so a key part of the work you do will be to facilitate this end. In line with this goal, as treatment progresses and you become more confident in your own capacity to manage your problems, the frequency of your sessions will gradually reduce (e.g. from weekly to fortnightly to monthly) with appropriate follow-up sessions offered (e.g. 3 monthly & 6 monthly).

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About the Author

The British CBT & Counselling Service are Doctors of Clinical Psychology and Counselling Psychologists (MSc) (Richmond, Kingston, Nottingham), specialising in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) for both adults and children experiencing a range of problems including, anxiety, depression, relationship problems, bereavement, eating disorders (including anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa), obsessive compulsive disorder and others distressing emotional problems. We offer Face to Face CBT Counselling, Telephone CBT Counselling, Marriage Counselling and Online CBT Counselling. All members of The British CBT & Counselling Service (Richmond, Kingston, Nottingham and West Bridgford) are Doctors of Clinical Psychology, Counselling Psychologists (MSc) or CBT Therapists (Postgraduate Diploma) and are accredited to practice by The British Association of Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy and/or hold a practicing certificate with The British Psychological Society. All Psychologists are also registered with The Health Professionals Council which monitors and regulates the practice of Psychologists and some are members of The British Association of Cognitive Psychotherapies South London. Our Psychologists have spent between seven and nine years training to enable people to overcome their emotional difficulties via CBT Counselling and have been qualified practitioners for at least two years. In addition to practicing privately, many hold (or have recently held) senior positions in the NHS. Dr Gray (Consultant Clinical Psychologist) is the Director of The British CBT & Counselling Service. She is also a Associate Research Fellow at the Institute of Psychiatry, has published widely in the field of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Counselling and speaks regularly at both national and international conferences. She is also co-author of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Patients with Eating Disorders: A Comprehensive Treatment Guide. Cambridge University Press (2007) and the companion guide for patients Beating Your Eating Disorder. Cambridge University Press (2010).

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