When selecting a therapy you want to know the evidence base for it has been tested. will it work? CBT is probably one of the most researched therapies ever! Below is some of the evidence and information about it. I am also very passionate about mindfulness and so there is information here about that as well..
Will CBT work for me?
I have a lot of faith in CBT. It is important to realise before starting CBT that it is what we call an "active" therapy. That means that in addition to attending sessions there is an expectation that you will practice what we talk about together between sessions to see how it works for you. My clinical experience is that those clients who put in that work tend to do pretty well (obviously I cannot make guarantees about outcomes of therapy). Please make sure you consider this first and I am more than happy to have an initial chat to discuss this further, should you have any questions.
Evidence base for CBT:
As discussed elsewhere on this website our biggest evidence base comes from the National Institute for Health and Care Execellence. Their home page can be accessed here. Nice are a national organisation that review evidence for physical and mental health treatment both medication and therapy. The NHS use this evidence base to inform care.
Whilst I cannot provide you with individual studies here (as I could fill several websites with that amount of information) the NICE guidelines give a good overview of the a lot of those studies. Here are some of the main ones:
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) - click here
Depression
for children and young people - click here
for adults - click here
Anxiety - click here
Social anxiety
for children and young people - click here.
for adults - click here
Generalised Anxiety Disorder - click here
Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome (PTSD) - click here
Evidence base for Mindfulness
Mindfulness is increasingly being used in schools, business, as well in the NHS. Mindfulness is a good tool for many mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, pain management and stress.
However, it is also increasingly used to maintain positive mental health. In the same way that physical exercise keeps you in good physical health, mindfulness is developing mental 'muscle' to keep you in good mental health. We only have one mind, we should look after it. Our mind is how experience our life, pretty important!
Free resources are:
'Insight Timer' app
'Headspace' app has some free information
'Buddify' app has some free resouces
Jon Kabat-Zinn and Andy Puddicombe, Deepak Chopra amongst many others are free to listen to on You Tube and Ted Talks.
CBT that works
based in the Highlands of Scotland, but within reach of wherever you are in the UK via zoom or teams
Jane Watkins, BABCP Accredited Cognitive Psychotherapist
Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) for children, teenagers, young people & adults