Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Counselling in Guelph
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Helps By…
Our Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) practice provides you with a safe space to explore and understand your inner self, while giving you the tools to make improvements in your daily life. CBT aims to help you…
- Recognize and challenge negative thought patterns and behaviours
- Learn adaptive coping skills to handle difficult emotions as they arise
- Accurately understand and find applicable solutions to your challenges
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy: Who is it for?…
CBT is a problem-focused, and goal oriented, form of talk therapy. Typically, CBT can be completed in 6-20 sessions, with flexibility based on your goals and needs. It can be used individually, with couples and families, or in group settings; and can be applied to various age ranges from children to adults.
CBT has been proven useful in treating a variety of difficulties. Following are some examples of the issues CBT can help you with:
Psychiatric conditions: e.g. anxiety, depression, substance use disorder, eating disorders, etc.
Chronic pain conditions: e.g. IBS, migraines, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, etc.
Common daily challenges: e.g. difficulties with motivation, sleep, anger, self-esteem or parenting support
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy: Is It Right For You?
Before beginning your therapy journey with CBT, here are some things to know:
Current focus: CBT has a focus on your experiences in day-to-day life, and how they can realistically be improved, rather than challenges experienced in your past. If you would like the main focus of your therapy to be addressing issues you feel stem from childhood or other past experiences, this may not be the right fit for you.
Be ready to put in the work: CBT focuses on teaching you the skills necessary to improve your life and to maintain those changes once therapy has concluded. It involves you taking initiative in your treatment and working alongside your care provider; encouraging self-determination in and out of the therapy space. CBT often incorporates “homework” tasks that you will be asked to complete on your own, in-between sessions, to keep up with and reinforce the tools being learned. It requires commitment to experience the full range of benefits CBT can bring to your life.
Change unhelpful patterns: CBT helps you to challenge negative thought patterns and their related behavioural expressions; looking at difficulties more accurately. Understanding the underlying thought patterns that shape your daily life, and experiences can help you to disqualify faulty thinking; improving self-esteem and daily coping abilities. Challenge inaccurate beliefs and replace them with more realistic, and helpful thoughts, gaining control of your emotional wellbeing and increasing confidence as you navigate your world.
Examples of thoughts that can be targeted or changed through CBT:
“should” statements: focus not on what you think you “should” or “should not” be, in favour of who you are right now and what you can do to make the improvements you wish to see
Cognitive distortions: “I am unlovable” “I am not good enough”, difficulty acknowledging the good qualities present in yourself and others or assuming the worst possible outcome will be reality
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Leads to…
Alongside our counsellors, CBT can guide you to…
- Feel empowered in your life, supporting self-esteem and confidence in your abilities
- Self-discovery, further understanding your inner world and making sense of your reality through it
- Improve social communication and problem-solving skills; supporting relationship quality and harmony
- Build healthy habits for mental strength and coping; responding to challenges more positively
- Utilize your learned tools to improve satisfaction and daily life quality beyond your counselling relationship