Deborah Seal Counsellor
Face-to-Face Counselling in Curtis Street, Swindon
Changing your thoughts for the better
Do you struggle with depression or anxiety? Are you tired of having the same nasty thought patterns running through your mind every day and preventing you from living a peaceful life? If so, I am here to help. I have over two decades of experience in providing CBT therapy in Swindon for people from all backgrounds, and also offer online sessions for those who are outside the Swindon area or unable to travel. We will engage directly with the automatic negative thoughts that underpin your low mood and help you get to a place where you look at yourself, others, and the wider world in a more positive light.
For more information on my face-to-face counselling in Swindon and surrounding areas like Royal Wootton Basset, Highworth, Crickdale, and Faringdon, please do get in touch. I also use CBT techniques as part of my couples therapy in Swindon, which addresses a wide range of relationship issues.
What is CBT?
Over many years of providing CBT therapy in Swindon, the main question I get asked is: What actually is CBT?
Put simply, CBT (or cognitive behavioural therapy) is a collaborative form of talking therapy that focuses on changing the way you think about yourself and others. Our online or face-to-face CBT sessions involve identifying negative thought patterns that you live with on a daily basis and understanding the damaging role they play in your behaviour and emotions. By walking through your thoughts and associated feelings, we will be able to challenge these automatically negative interpretations and replace them with more compassionate, realistic thoughts.
How Can CBT Help Me?
You may have tried CBT therapy in Swindon or online before and felt like it hasn’t worked for you. With me, I take care to learn about the way you think and what works for you before deciding on the exact work we do, to ensure you get the most out of each session. CBT’s main benefit is using proven tools to get you to a place where you are kinder to yourself through practiced techniques that keep unhealthily negative thoughts in check. It makes you more aware of the internal cognitive processes that contribute to the proliferation of various mental health problems, such as anxiety, depression, eating disorders, insomnia, obsessive compulsive disorder, panic disorder, PTSD, and substance abuse.
CBT Therapy for Depression
If you are struggling with depression, I know that it feels like life will never get better. Your thoughts are almost exclusively negative, and this ultimately reinforces your sense of low mood. Our work together will therefore involve studying these negative thoughts and looking at them in a new light. Through using established CBT techniques, we will aim towards developing more compassionate ways of thinking about yourself and the wider world.
You might, at the moment, say to yourself, “Things will never get better.” My role as a CBT therapist in Swindon is to help you replace that fatalistic thought with, “At the moment, it feels like things are never going to get better.” It is a gradual process, but with commitment to weekly sessions you will start to have a better outlook on life.
CBT Therapy for Anxiety
Like depression, anxiety is an extremely common occurrence. Anxiety occurs when we hold stress in our body and, as a result, experience the same panicked, worst-case-scenario thoughts throughout the day.
With CBT, we look closely at these anxious thoughts and the feelings associated with them. This may be challenging at times, but doing this helps us to see them for what they are. They become less scary; we understand where they come from, they role they have, and ultimately feel more equipped to keep them in check when they show up again.
CBT in Couples Therapy
I often use CBT techniques as part of my couples therapy in Swindon or online. This is especially the case with communication issues. You may be running into the same arguments, or struggle to articulate how you properly feel because speaking the truth seems too painful. With CBT, we will look to ‘unpack’ the way you think about each other and how you react to certain scenarios. Taking a backward step and looking at the thoughts and feelings that underpin your relationship gives couples greater understanding of the other, which naturally means more clarity and improved communication in the future.
Want to know more about couples therapy in Swindon and how CBT can help you? Please feel free to visit my Couples Therapy page for more details.
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