It will work, if you will work – therapy slogan

An effective, tried, tested and short term therapy recognised as being helpful for issues such as ANXIETY, DEPRESSION, PANIC ATTACKS, PERFORMANCE ENHANCEMENT, PHOBIAS, PAIN MANAGEMENT, STRESS MANAGEMENT, PROCRASTINATION, FEAR OF PRESENTING, and more.
CBT is approved by NICE (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence) It is a two-pronged approach that addresses both the psychological aspects or blocks and the practical aspects with an action plan; right from the start you are assisted in learning how to become your own therapist.

“YOU FEEL THE WAY YOU THINK” Aaron T Beck – pioneer in Cognitive Therapy

You therefore ACT or BEHAVE in a way dictated by your EMOTIONS which are dictated by your THINKING and can and do affect your PHYSIOLOGY i.e. the way your body reacts (sweaty palms, racing heart, frozen body)

Therefore – and it is NOT rocket science - if you can change the way you think, you will change the way you feel and this ability then empowers you to behave more out of choice and responsiveness than reaction. It is simple, effective and can even be exciting as the changes are often swift yet lasting. Built into therapy are tools for preventing relapse and the opportunity for back-up/reinforcing sessions and practical experiments. IT WORKS and it has been proven, tried and tested to work.

The basis of CBT is that you work together with Tina to identify what types of unhelpful thinking you engage in concerning the problem(s) you bring to sessions. Having done that, there is now an opportunity to examine your thinking and indeed your beliefs about yourself and to consider changing the viewpoint in the light of the here and now. You can bring as many problems as you like to therapy.

Nothing written here about CBT comes close to the countless books and information available to read. Perhaps going to an official site such as the NHS ones would be the simplest if you are looking to learn about the many applications it has. You can give CBT a try on line, free of charge, to see if you like the principles at www.livinglifetothefull.com or you can book yourself an assessment session to see whether you are comfortable with Tina. It is called a chemistry meeting.

Tina’s own interest in Cognitive Therapy began early in 2009 when she decided to update her skills and train in CBT, which is known for its problem solving properties: with great care Tina chose the Centre for Stress Management ( www.managingstress.com ) as her training Centre for many reasons, not least of which is that its courses are approved by the British Psychological Society. Tina was very privileged to have Professor Stephen Palmer PhD as the course tutor for CBT and indeed the Rational Emotive Behaviour therapy (REBT).

On a personal level, Tina had some unfounded concern that CBT maybe wasn’t a deep therapy but a superficial one but was very quickly proved wrong as she found, through being a client herself, that it went right to the core beliefs we hold about ourselves and challenges them. It worked for Tina very quickly and very effectively over a relationship issue so she has absolutely no hesitation in recommending it. Clients are already reporting huge shifts in their attitudes and reporting successful changes and results.

CBT is also proven for its success in working with specific problems and goals, whether these are anxiety, performance, relationship, shame or depression based. CBT meets the criteria set by the NHS and is probably the most researched and tested therapy there is currently available. CBT is National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) approved therapy. In conclusion, it works and has been proven to work and there is much evidence to support this available. You don’t have to believe Tina – you can do your own research. The client simply needs to be able to access their thinking and to be willing to engage in a collaborative partnership with the therapy and therapist, in this case Tina.

At the first meeting, goals are set and agreed and a fixed time for therapy is also arrived at which is generally between 6 and 8 sessions. This can be extended if required and reviews are carried out at each meeting. Sessions are for an hour and clients are encouraged to bring a recording device but this is not mandatory.

At the time of writing, Tina holds a Certificate in Behavioural and Cognitive Therapy, issued by the Centre of Stress Management and is entered in their records accordingly.

Future Training: Tina is working towards the Certificate in Cognitive and Behavioural Counselling and Psychotherapy which means that she trains in Rational Emotive Behavioural Therapy also. Her supervision is undertaken by Meir Stolier (www.cbtcare.com) and is on-going, post qualification, to maintain professional standards. The organisations that are guardians of good CBT practice are the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy (BABCP) and the Association for Rational Emotive Behavioural Therapy (AREBT). Meir is an accredited practitioner.


Please contact Tina for more details and see Book List for details of some of the recommended self-help reading material.