Post on 27-Jul-2016
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Dr Vanessa Ruspoli | Harley Street Psychology | www.dr-‐ruspoli.com | (+44) 7747-‐ 777361
What is CBT therapy and what can it treat?
Insights from Harley Street psychologist, Dr Vanessa Ruspoli
What is CBT therapy? Simply put, CBT involves…
• Identifying and understanding the ideas, behaviours and emotions that contribute to your condition, state of mind, or quality of life.
• Once identified, taking effective steps towards modifying those thoughts and feelings to allow you handle life experiences without becoming mentally stressed.
• Recalling and identifying any problematic life events that you have gone through in the past, that may be influencing or colouring your interpretation of events in the present.
• Drawing on scientifically based methods, the psychologist will support you to develop problem solving skills and coping techniques.
• Gradually acclimatising to the source of anxiety, and challenging negative or outdated thought patterns, in order to regain your sense of control and joy for life.
Dr Vanessa Ruspoli | Harley Street Psychology | www.dr-‐ruspoli.com | (+44) 7747-‐ 777361
What can CBT treat? 10 things CBT helps with…
-‐-‐-‐ Phobias
CBT challenges beliefs about safety, whilst gaining exposure to the feared situation, including specific phobias, such as fear of closed in spaces, spiders, or heights.
-‐-‐-‐ Generalised Anxiety
Confronting negative beliefs about the world, whilst exposing the person to new situations and getting away from avoidance, helps reduce anxiety levels.
-‐-‐-‐ Social Anxiety
Supporting clients to challenge beliefs about how threatening people are, whilst gradually gaining exposure to social events, can build self confidence.
-‐-‐-‐ Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
CBT questions unhelpful or magical beliefs about what will happen if a certain behaviour is not performed, whilst incrementally reducing compulsive behaviours.
Dr Vanessa Ruspoli | Harley Street Psychology | www.dr-‐ruspoli.com | (+44) 7747-‐ 777361
-‐-‐-‐ Depression
Challenging negative beliefs about oneself and the world, and increasing activity levels, can help people to regain a healthy outlook and enjoy life again.
-‐-‐-‐ Overcoming Low Self-‐Esteem
Tackling distorted beliefs about what is good enough, along with reducing people pleasing or other safety behaviours, leads to a healthy sense of self.
-‐-‐-‐ Anger Management
Working on how to be assertive when expressing anger and managing emotions and responses, leads to better relationships and an improved sense of self.
-‐-‐-‐ Eating disorders
Challenging negative and distorted beliefs about ones body, whilst learning how to eat a balanced diet, leads to a healthy relationship with food and self.
-‐-‐-‐ Addiction
Understanding addiction as an illness, where and how it started, and getting to a point of complete abstinence, can aid people in their recovery process.
-‐-‐-‐ Weight management
In challenging negative beliefs about ones body and food, and learning how to develop a balanced lifestyle, a healthy weight can be gained and maintained.
Dr Vanessa Ruspoli is a chartered counseling psychologist offering CBT therapy in London. She has worked with cognitive behavioral therapy for a number of years at her Harley Street psychology practice in Central London’s prestigious, historic medical district.