Working with a Cognitive Behavioural Therapist
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is a type of talking treatment which focuses on how your thoughts, beliefs and attitudes affect your feelings and behaviour, and teaches you coping skills for dealing with different problems. It combines cognitive therapy (examining the things you think) and behaviour therapy (examining the things you do).
Taking part in CBT involves attending regular sessions discussed and agreed with your therapist and are typically 50 minutes. Attending sessions on a regular basis means that you will get the maximum benefit from your therapy. It also helps our service to continue to run efficiently so we can see more people, in a more timely way.
Computerised Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CCBT)
CBT based modules can be accessed in your own time from your own home or chosen space. You will be supported through the learning package by a therapist during fortnightly reviews over emails and you will learn how to build on existing and develop new skills to improve your wellbeing. Find out more during your initial consultation with us.
Working with a Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner
Stress, anxiety/worry and low mood are common and significantly impact on people's lives. There is good evidence that people can overcome these themselves by using techniques to change unhelpful ways of thinking and behaving - Cognitive Behavioural Approaches.
Psychological Wellbeing Practitioners (PWPs) are trained and qualified to assist people in learning these techniques that are specifically designed to help improve their mental wellbeing through a range of interventions such as short educational courses, online therapy programme (SilverCloud) and Guided Self-Help (face to face or via the telephone). This includes setting realistic goals and looking at how what we think and what we do affects the way that we feel.
You will be offered up to six one to one sessions, each lasting around 30 minutes. Each session will be with the same PWP and can be offered over the telephone, online or face to face.
SESSION One: Introductions, Goal Setting, Your own 'vicious cycle', Choosing the right cognitive behavioural approach for you
SESSION Two onwards: Working on your own approach. This may include reviewing your progress, understanding how the approach can help with your own 'vicious cycle', how to get going, blocks or difficulties and taking the next step.
FINAL SESSION: Maintaining progress and planning for your future. By this point you will have skills needed to be your own therapist and you can take the next steps on your journey yourself.
REMEMBER there will be tasks for you to complete between each session. Completing these tasks and practising the skills is essential for progress to be made and maintained.
Working with a Counsellor
Counselling for Depression (CfD) is an evidence based psychological therapy for depression offered within NHS Talking Therapies.
CfD is based on a person-centred model and is particularly appropriate for people with low mood or mild to moderate depression.
Counsellors are trained to listen to you and value your point of view. The focus is on the emotional problems underlying depression such as low self-esteem and excessive self-criticism, which often maintain depressed mood. The aim is to help you access underlying feelings, make sense of them and draw on any new meanings which emerge to make positive changes in your life. This may provide a basis for psychological and behavioural change.
At times this can be challenging but may help you understand yourself from a different perspective.
Often, we grow up believing that we have to cope on our own, but learning how to share feelings can improve relationships and sense of wellbeing.
Counsellors offer a safe and confidential place to talk about your difficult experience and anything that maybe confusing, painful and uncomfortable.
The therapist will not give advice, but will work alongside you to make your own choices.
Sessions usually take place once a week. Your therapist and you will decide how long you work for.
Making this regular commitment gives you a better chance of finding out why you are having difficulties.
Couples Therapy for Depression
Couples Therapy for Depression (CTFD) is a therapy for people who are struggling with mild to moderate depression and are finding their depression is impacting on their relationship. It is an evidence-based, up to 20-session couple therapy designed to treat depression in couples where there is also relationship distress.
It looks at the following areas:
- reducing damaging interactions between couples,
- building emotional openness and closeness,
- improving communication and behaviour,
- changing unhelpful cognitions and perceptions, and
- helping the couple cope with the ordinary and not-so-ordinary stresses that arise in the course of everyday relating.
How does it work?
Your therapist will first have a session with you as a couple to look at where you are now. They will then meet with you individually each for a session to look more in depth at your viewpoint of the difficulties. Following this the therapist will share a formulation, an idea of how you both deal in ways that are helpful and also highlight difficulties and why they are there. You will then work together to explore and connect to find ways through your difficulties.
The therapist is there to work with both of you. This is not about assigning blame or assuming someone is the problem. Instead, we look to work on the relationship and how you relate with each other.
Does it work?
Yes. Couples therapy for depression has the best outcomes for any therapy offered within Talking Therapies.
What we work with
- You have mild to moderate depression
- You are in a committed relationship
- You have been together for at least 6 months
- You live together
- Both of you would like to work on this area
What we do not work with.
- Domestic violence
- Drug or alcohol issues are part of either person’s presentation.
- If there are secrets between the couple, for example: affairs/money issues
- If either of you are in individual therapy with other services
- Severe depression- we would suggest individual therapy at this point initially
- Primarily sexual issues
What happens at assessment
At assessment, we spend time to try and connect you with the right therapy, at the right time. It may be couples therapy for depression is not for you at this point and we will point you towards a different therapy initially. This does not mean that couples therapy will not be useful in the future.
Dynamic Interpersonal Therapy (DIT)
Dynamic Interpersonal Therapy (DIT) is a time-limited, structured psychotherapy, typically delivered over 16 sessions. It aims to help you understand the connection between presenting symptoms and what is happening in your relationships by identifying a core repetitive pattern of relating that can be traced back to childhood. Once this pattern is identified, it will be used to make sense of difficulties in relationships in the here-and-now that could be contributing to psychological stress.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy is a structured therapy that encourages people to briefly focus on the trauma memory while simultaneously experiencing bilateral stimulation (typically eye movements), which is associated with a reduction in the vividness and emotion associated with the trauma memories.