Shamira Graham CBT
Shamira has been with the Onebright team (formally Efficacy) since 2008 and now combines her role as a BABCP accredited CBT Therapist with her background in business and operationa...
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What is CBT?
CBT stands for cognitive behavioural therapy, and it's a psychological treatment which is proven to work for most emotional and mental health problems. It's based on the idea that our thoughts, our feelings, and our behaviours are interlinked, and therefore, if we make changes to how we're thinking and what we're doing, then we can impact how we're feeling and therefore make a positive psychological impact.
What happens in the first session?
Okay, so in your first session, so in your assessment, it's really just an opportunity for you to find out a little bit more about what CBT is, crucially, whether it can help you, and also if it's something that you would like to proceed with. So the therapist will outline the model of CBT and then you will get an opportunity at your own pace and in your own words just to run through what it is that's brought you to seek therapy. At the end of the session, you, in collaboration with your therapist, will decide if it's something that you would like to continue with, and the therapist will outline broadly what you could expect in terms of treatment for ongoing therapy.
How many CBT sessions will I need?
The answer to that really does depend person to person, of course, but typically you should expect between eight and 12 sessions. We know that for more complex presentations that might edge up towards the 16 mark, but broadly between eight and 12 sessions would be reasonable.