Benefits of CBT & psychological therapy
This page has two parts:
- How CBT-based psychological therapy can help you?
- What is the evidence that CBT-based psychological therapy works?
How CBT can help
What matters is that the psychological help you receive works for you. Some common benefits include:
- Less self-critical thinking
- Less fear and worry
- Improved mood
- Courage to make changes
- Improved relationships
- Less self-destructive habits
- A sense of having greater control over your life
In short, it helps you develop successful life-long strategies for managing your thoughts, behaviour and mood.
You will know very soon if the psychological therapy is working for you. If it isn't working, then this is something your psychologist will want to know soon too, so the interventions can be modified at the first opportunity.
Evidence that CBT-based therapy works
Despite forms of psychological therapy having been around for a century, it has only been systematically researched relatively recently. This has helped us to find out what works for whom - so we know what should be offered first to those who experience certain types of difficulties. Much of this research has been analysed for the NHS by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE), which has found strong support for psychological interventions for the following difficulties. In most cases, CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) has been the best or joint best intervention. These include:
- Anxiety (panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, agoraphobia, social phobia, generalised anxiety disorder...)
- Depression
- Eating disorders (bulimia, binge eating, anorexia)
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
NICE hasn't analysed all areas of psychological difficulty yet, as the process for each disorder is a lengthy one. Also, many people's difficulties aren't adequately captured by these psychiatric diagnoses.
Read more about the what the London Psychology Clinic can help you with on the Specialties page.