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Notice that there is information relating to cognitive behavioural therapy or CBT. Can you tell us a little bit about that?
People are often referred to CBT by their GP; it is thought to help short-term issues. The user is involved in a training program which can involve mood diaries, scaling of your moods, direct interaction with whoever is providing it, by group therapists sometimes, sometimes telephone counselling, it is usually used for less complex issues maybe coping with panic episodes, agoraphobia, can be very successful in fairly simple issues. More complex issues require longer therapies. CBT is usually quite short-term with measurable outcomes and evaluations which of course is very different to other types of therapy.
Could you give is an example of where CBT may be useful?
If someone was living with something, say like agoraphobia, you would maybe ask the person to keep a mood diary to note their mood before and after they have done whatever process was decided between you as useful. It may be a relaxation exercise or a distraction exercise. You would scale how you felt you were coping with it and there would be a measured process towards achieving the goal. It is usually goal setting and it is achievable goals. You might decide that the person could manage a short walk outside the house to the front gate, and then into the street and things like that. And at each step, you would evaluate how you were doing and what went wrong, if it went wrong, and what you might be able to do to make it easier for next time. It is about goal setting in steps, achieving those goals, evaluating how they are helping and putting in place something to build a little bit of resilience for that, for the future.
