Episode Summary
Last week the NHS got in touch and told me I had come to the top of the waiting list. My first session with the NHS therapist was last week but that was more of an assessment/introduction session than a therapy session. So today I had my first actual therapy session. In this episode I briefly explain what CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) is and then share my experiences of today’s session.
Episode Show Notes
00:10 – The background to this episode. After being on a waiting list for 6 months I finally had my first appointment with an NHS therapist last week. Today was my first actual therapy appointment.
00:55 – An overview of what CBT is. It is a talking therapy designed to change unhelpful thinking and behaviours. It looks at the interconnectedness between:
- Our thoughts
- Our behaviours
- our feelings
- our physical sensations
02:22 – To run the session, my therapist got out a piece of paper and mapped out those words as shown here:
02:52 – She then asked me about any negative feelings I was having so we could capture what I was experiencing under each heading.
05:36 – Over 45 minutes of conversation and discussing a couple of scenarios, we created quite a comprehensive map.
05:54 – Over the coming sessions we will build out that map as we start to look more at the specifics of what is happening.
06:52 – I asked for “homework” and she suggested I look at the exercises in the first chapter of “Get Out Of Your Head And Into Your Life”
Resources Discussed In This Episode
[1] – Overview Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) – www.NHS.uk
