The Problem
Our beliefs about ourselves and the world are central to our personal identity.
They are very important to us. We received them at a very young age and they help
us make sense of and contain what can be a frightening internal and external world.
On the other hand, those very beliefs can have drawbacks. By their nature, beliefs
can be one-sided and thus excluding and limiting of other possibilities. They can
also be out of date. Beliefs we absorbed long ago can need updating. Who you are
now has changed over the years but our beliefs can remain the same and keep us locked
in a time and pattern that no longer suits us.
In particular, the beliefs about ourselves are the most emotionally important to
us and so we actively resist changing them. As a result, our behaviour stagnates
as we try to maintain an old identity and no new possibilities are allowed in our
lives.
The Sessions
Our beliefs will be reflected in our thoughts as we explore them in a session. Our
thoughts will reflect certain themes, and as we identify them, we begin to trace the
core beliefs or underlying assumptions that are outside of our conscious awareness
but still drive us. We begin to see how these form our world and how they make us
feel. We then look at how our behaviour maintains this world view and begin to ask
the question 'how can I do this differently'? By acting differently, we begin to
get new input and our world changes.
Outside the session, we may conduct behaviour experiments, developed and agreed
between us, where we practice trying to act in a different and new way. We keep
track of our progress by maintaining a 'thought diary'. This makes us more familiar
with our thoughts, the themes in them and how they change as our behaviour changes.
What CBT is and is not
CBT is designed to look at quite specific target areas such as, for example, an
anxiety-based phobia or mild feelings of depression. We thus set up a
time-limited number of sessions, to be agreed mutually.
CBT is not a 'magic bullet' or quick-fix solution to all problems. If the roots
of our issues are deep and life-long or the trauma is severe I would recommend engagement
with psychotherapy/counselling as this form of therapy reaches to the roots of problems.
A Tibetan saying illustrates this: When a line is
drawn on water it is easy to disperse. When it is drawn in sand it takes a little
longer to be washed away. When the line is drawn in rock it does indeed take longer
to remove.