Two things we care about almost as much as the issue we're seeking therapy for: our precious time and money. Learn 10 tips to make therapy really…

be competent in using cognitive behavioural approach to treat anxiety disorders, PTSD and depression;

That being said, medication does still perform better for some conditions, and many people find it most beneficial to combine CBT with medication.

Area of expertise. Ask whether the therapist has expertise and experience treating your symptoms or your area of concern, such as eating disorders or PTSD.

Last but certainly not least, this initial stage is all about building rapport between therapist and client. It’s like finding your perfect dance partner – you need trust, communication, and a shared rhythm to make beautiful moves together.

If you are currently employed, you may be asked to provide evidence that your employment will not affect your ability to study and that you can commit sufficient time to fulfil all elements outlined in the course description. You may be asked to provide details about your pattern of employment and provide evidence to show how you will fulfil your commitment to make time available to study, to complete coursework, and attend course and University events and modules.

During future sessions, and in discussing how to improve day-to-day routines, you will help your patient evaluate and respond to thoughts that interfere with the goals described above, such as: My friends won’t want Mental health awareness to hang out with me,“ or “I’m too tired to go out with them.”

Your therapist may ask you to list negative thoughts that occurred to you between sessions, as well as positive thoughts you can choose instead.

For example, someone who is prone to catastrophizing may assume that a friend who doesn't text them back right away is angry at them, potentially leading them to withdraw socially, lash out at the friend, ruminate, or otherwise behave in a non-productive way.

The goal of CBT is to help you adapt and change your mindset and behaviors by reassesing distorted thought patterns.

CBT techniques include identifying distortions such as overgeneralization of negative events, catastrophizing, minimizing positive events, and maximizing negative events. Patients work with therapists to identify and change cognitive distortions and avoidance behaviours that cause their symptoms.

Over time, you may start to see that the predicted catastrophe is actually not very likely to happen. You’ll likely start with lower-anxiety tasks and build up from there.

Our feelings can affect how we handle situations and how we run our lives, so we put together a guide to help you build awareness for a more…

MN organized the project and wrote the entire manuscript. KS and NS conducted the literature search and were involved in the conceptualization of the review.