My feedback and advice for anyone thinking about starting CBT

"I decided to start CBT because I had to take time off work due to stress and I always felt tired. I recognised that my thought patterns were affecting my well-being at work and in my life in general and I wanted to address this.

CBT has helped me to identify think more positively about my life and environment.

The most valuable things I’ve learnt are to not automatically take things personally and not to worry so much about others’ opinions of me.

The most important practical changes I’ve made are to reduce the amount of activities to which I commit myself, to build in relaxation time into my life and to change my nutritional habits.

With the help of CBT, my confidence has grown, because I can more easily divorce my negative thoughts from the actual reality of the situation. My sense of inner peace and calm has increased because I can use strategies to prevent the onset of stress and anxiety. My relationships with my friends have improved: I am calmer and much happier. This is because I am much more self aware now.

The positive changes in me that other people have said they’ve noticed are that I’m more relaxed and cheerful!

In a nutshell, I think that CBT is a worthwhile experience. I would recommend CBT to other people because it helps you identify how your thoughts are affecting your behaviour and do something about it!

To anyone thinking about whether to start CBT, my advice and encouragement is to try it for at least six sessions and complete the self help “homework” between sessions. You will then see positive results!"

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