Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (including CBT for Trauma)

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is a structured, goal-oriented therapy that helps you understand what is happening for you in the here and now and gives you practical ways to change it. CBT is built on a simple idea: thoughts, feelings, body signals and behaviours are interconnected. When we identify and gently adjust unhelpful patterns in one part of the system, the whole system can begin to shift.

How we’ll work together

Collaborative and personalised. We’ll map your current difficulties, clarify what you want to change and agree a plan that fits your life.
Clear structure. Sessions usually follow an agenda we create together so we stay focused on what matters most.
Between-session practice. You may use brief tasks such as mood or thought diaries, activity scheduling or small experiments. These build momentum and show us what is helping.
Measurable progress. We will regularly review what has changed, refine your tools and keep the work practical and relevant.

What CBT can help with

Depression and low mood (e.g., loss of motivation, withdrawal, self-criticism)
Anxiety disorders (e.g., generalised anxiety, panic, health anxiety, social anxiety, OCD, phobias)
Trauma-related challenges (e.g., intrusive memories, avoidance, hypervigilance, shame)
Stress, burnout and worry affecting sleep, concentration and performance

Core CBT tools you may learn

Behavioural activation. Re-introducing meaningful, manageable activities to lift mood and rebuild momentum.
Cognitive skills. Spotting patterns such as catastrophising, all-or-nothing thinking or mind-reading, and learning flexible alternatives.
Exposure and response prevention. Gradual, supported facing of feared situations or sensations while reducing safety behaviours that keep anxiety going.
Attention training and grounding. Practical ways to steady the body and redirect focus.
Problem-solving and planning. Breaking complex challenges into steps you can act on.

CBT for Trauma

Trauma-focused CBT adapts these principles to help your nervous system and memory networks settle after overwhelming events.

Stabilisation first. We begin with safety, grounding, sleep routines and emotion-regulation skills so processing is tolerable.
Making sense of triggers. We map how reminders, places, sensations or thoughts set off threat responses, then plan stepwise ways to regain choice.
Processing traumatic memories. Using evidence-based methods (for example, imaginal work, narrative shaping and graded real-world exposure), we help the brain file what happened as “in the past,” reducing the intensity and frequency of intrusions.
Repairing beliefs. We gently test absolute beliefs that often follow trauma (for example, “I’m not safe,” “It was my fault”) and build fairer, more helpful conclusions.
Future protection. You leave with relapse-prevention strategies and a practical plan for handling triggers.

You do not need to tell your story in graphic detail for CBT to help. Our pace will always be guided by what feels safe and sustainable.

What to expect in sessions

Assessment and roadmap. We capture a clear picture of what’s going on now, your history, strengths and priorities.
Skills and experiments. Each session introduces or practises specific tools, followed by small between-session tasks to test them in real life.
Review and adapt. We track progress, troubleshoot obstacles and adjust the plan as your goals evolve.
Consolidation. As things improve, we focus on maintaining gains and preventing relapse.

My approach

Warm, transparent and practical. You’ll always know why we’re doing something and how it links to your goals.
Tailored to you. Strategies are adapted for your context, culture, learning style and energy levels.
Skills you can keep. The aim is not endless therapy; it is a toolkit you can use long after sessions end.

Next steps

If you’d like a structured, evidence-based approach that turns insight into action, CBT could be a good fit. Get in touch to outline your goals, and we can plan a focused block of CBT or a trauma-informed pathway built around your needs.