THERAPEUTIC APPROACHES
Enough jargon! Knowing the difference between CBT and CPT and ACT etc
COGNITIVE BEHAVIOUR THERAPY
One of the most commonly used approaches, CBT is a type of psychotherapy that helps people to change unhelpful or unhealthy habits of thinking, feeling and behaving. In basic terms, you will learn to identify your thoughts, and explore the link between these thoughts and your feelings and actions. As you learn to challenge and modify those thoughts, you will notice that the feelings and actions also change. It usually becomes clear that we have thinking patterns - that the same kinds of thoughts keep showing up, and these are often connected to underlying core beliefs that are well established. Once these are tackled, change tends to be quite significant. It has an excellent evidence base for anxiety and depression
ACCEPTANCE AND COMMITMENT THERAPY
ACT focuses on helping people to behave more consistently with their own values and apply mindfulness and acceptance skills to their responses to uncontrollable experiences. The therapy is less concerned with eliminating unwanted thoughts, emotions and sensations and more concerned with cultivating psychological flexibility: the ability to change behaviour depending on how useful to the patient's life this behaviour is understood to be in the long term. Helpful for anxiety and depression, chronic pain and addictive behaviours.
COGNITIVE PROCESSING THERAPY
CPT is a specific type of cognitive behavioural therapy that helps patients learn how to modify and challenge unhelpful beliefs related specifically to unresolved trauma and post traumatic stress disorder. It's tough. Avoidance fuels anxiety, and it is likely that there are times that you will want to avoid this treatment - but staying the same will not help, and if you can keep doing the hard work, you will see results.
​
Check out this website for a good introduction : https://www.ptsd.va.gov/understand_tx/cognitive_processing.asp
​
SCHEMA THERAPY
A schema is an extremely stable, enduring negative pattern that develops during childhood or adolescence and is elaborated throughout an individual’s life. We view the world through our schemas.
Schemas are important beliefs and feelings about oneself and the environment which the individual accepts without question. They are self-perpetuating, and are very resistant to change. Schema therapy is all about identifying the type of schemas you have, and then working on how to challenge these when they show up in your life and get in the way of you living a life you can be excited about.
​