Top 3 tips to help you get the most out of CBT
So you’ve decided to try CBT, which is great! But in order for you to get the best out of your sessions, you need to be prepared for what to expect.
CBT requires patience and dedication while you and your therapist work together to address your issues and develop new ways of thinking and more helpful ways of approaching problems.
Below are three of our top tips to help you get the best out of your CBT sessions.
Tip 1: Be open and honest
We know that building up trust can take time for some people. CBT works best if you go into every session with an open and honest approach. For your therapist to work with you to get to the root of your issues, you need to help them understand how you reached this point.
Telling a stranger your complete story may be uncomfortable at first, but in order to reach a point of recovery and make your sessions work for you, you’ll need to help your therapist see things from your point of view. This requires total honesty. If it is difficult to trust people you can start building trust by letting your therapist know that it is difficult.
Tip 2: Develop a collaborative relationship with your therapist
During your therapy, your CBT therapist will work with you to find solutions that will work for you. The aim will be to get you to become your own therapist by applying new skills and techniques to old patterns of thinking and behaving.
Your CBT Therapist will also help you to look at the impact of your past and present experiences on yourself and, if relevant, your relationships. CBT therapists like to think that they are the experts in CBT but you are the expert in your problem, that way working together the solutions are revealed. By approaching each session with a collaborative mindset, you will become more open to sharing your ideas and thoughts with your therapist, which will ultimately increase the quality of your CBT sessions.
Tip 3: Focus on your recovery – don’t give up if one technique doesn’t work
As with any recovery method, CBT requires patience and focus. What gives CBT the best evidence base is that the therapy does not just happen in the sessions but what you do between sessions. Your therapist will set you tasks and sometimes ask you to keep records of your thoughts and feelings. They’ll be homework and exercises that you will need to practice between sessions. Just like athletes need to train every day to get to their desired level of fitness, CBT teaches you to form daily positive changes to achieve your mental wellbeing.
If you’re unsure of what to expect during your CBT sessions, take a look at our guide.
Here at Onebright, all of our CBT therapists are BABCP accredited. The BABCP is the British Association of Behavioural Cognitive Psychotherapists, the lead organisation for the theory, practice and development of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy in the UK.