At the Centre of Psychological Therapies, our aim is to help children and young adults (up to 26 years) improve their mental health and we do this by offering a time limited course of evidence-based psychological therapies Psychological therapies are sometimes referred to as 'talking therapies' - for example, CBT is one type of talking therapy. They involve exploring psychological difficulties that are getting in the way of how we would like to feel. What is CBT? CBT stands for Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, which is a talking therapy that focuses on three aspects: thoughts, emotions and behaviours. CBT can help you manage problems by changing the way you think and behave. Problems with thoughts can show up as having negative expectations, worry, or low mood. Emotions reflect any distressing feelings that may be accompanied by physiological symptoms. When someone experiences distressing thoughts or emotions, this may influence behaviours, for example avoidance of situations or finding ways to feel safe in situations that make one feel anxious or uncomfortable. In addition, for some people with low mood it may be difficult to find energy and motivation to get into action. Thus, it is assumed that thoughts, feelings and behaviours all interact and influence each other. Depending on the symptoms someone presents with, the therapy can focus on challenging negative thoughts, dealing with emotions, or changing behaviours and coping strategies. There is also scope to take into account any factors that may influence thoughts, emotions and behaviours, for example family, social situations, and school environment. Though the outline of the therapy may be informed by past experiences, CBT has a focus on the here-and-now, and goals for the therapy will be set jointly with the therapist after careful exploring of symptoms and any relevant life areas. Information for young people CBT is one of several types of talking therapy used to help young people with mental health problems. Talking therapies can be helpful to young people who are experiencing things like: stress and anxiety emotional difficulties relationship challenges troublesome habits other issues, such as OCD and phobias How does CBT work? Cognitive/cognition is to do with our thoughts. If you have difficult thoughts, CBT can help you to work to challenge these and develop more useful, realistic thoughts. Behaviour is about the things we do. If you are avoiding things or have fears around them, CBT can help you to challenge these behaviours and develop more useful ones CBT helps you work on your thoughts and behaviours together. Understanding the links between the way that you think (your thoughts, beliefs and assumptions), how you feel (your emotions) and what you do (your behaviour) is a really effective way to help with hard to manage thoughts and feelings. CBT will help you learn how to overcome: negative thoughts (e.g. she doesn’t like me) unhelpful behaviours (e.g. not going to that party) difficult emotions (e.g. feeling sad) What happens in a typical CBT session? A typical CBT session may include: working through exercises with your therapist to explore your thoughts, feelings and behaviour. Perhaps agreeing on some activities to work on in your own time. You could be going over what you did in previous sessions and discussing what progress you've made. Information for families CBT is one of several types of talking therapy used to help children and young people with mental health problems. CBT can help children understand how thoughts and emotions affect behaviour and how changing their thoughts and emotions can change this behaviour and the way they feel. Can children have CBT therapy? CBT has been shown to be an effective treatment for children and adolescents with anxiety and mood disorders. Parents may have a role to play too and can be co-therapists in the children’s journey. Talking therapies can be helpful to young people who are experiencing things like: stress and anxiety emotional difficulties relationship challenges troublesome habits other issues, such as OCD and phobias. How does CBT work? Cognitive/cognition is to do with our thoughts. If you have difficult thoughts, CBT can help you to work to challenge these and develop more useful, realistic thoughts Behaviour is about the things we do. If you are avoiding things or have fears around them, CBT can help you to challenge these behaviours and develop more useful ones Common CBT Techniques for Children: Cognitive Restructuring. Goal Setting. Relaxation Techniques. Behavioural Modification. Skills Training. Play Therapy. Modelling. Exposure Therapy. Explaining the idea of CBT to younger children must be done in simple terms. To make things easier, some therapists use worksheets to help children visualize certain concepts. For example, a worksheet may have drawings with blank thought bubbles for the child to fill out. The therapist may ask the child what the person in the picture is thinking about. Worksheets may include stop signs, to help the child recognize signs that they’re about to lose control. Worksheets can help children and adolescents understand how thoughts, feelings, and actions are connected. Through these worksheets, they can solidify what they’ve learned. CBT for children may also involve planners, checklists, or a rewards chart to help children remember and complete tasks. Information for external professional services (e.g CAMHS, schools) The Centre for Psychological Therapies provides evidence based psychological therapies for children and young adults in the community, up to age 26. The Centre offers both online and in person sessions. Our mission is to develop, test and widen access to effective interventions and evidence-based training. The Centre does not offer a comprehensive service, people attend for a time-limited, psychological intervention. What we can offer: Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) for common mental health problems (i.e. anxiety and low mood) Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for more complex presentations (eg. low risk OCD, some trauma, comorbidity, systemic complexity) Who we help: We provide support for children and young people, their parents, carers, families and young adults. These include: People who are experiencing low mood with low risk People experiencing anxiety including phobias, separation and social anxiety, health anxiety, panic and OCD People experiencing PTSD and trauma symptoms. Parents/carers can be included in therapy, as agreed on an individual basis. We are currently unable to provide support to: Anyone over the age of 26 Any young person who’s behaviour or self harm poses a risk to self, staff or others which cannot be managed within a non NHS setting. Actively experiencing psychosis. Experiencing an eating disorder. How to access CPT: We are a self referral service and we ask that the family/carer/young person contacts us directly at CPT@ed.ac.uk. Following this, CPT will reply via email and request that a brief form be completed to provide some details of what the main concerns are. An initial appointment is then offered to assess whether the Centre can meet the needs of the individual. Initial appointments are carried out by qualified clinicians alongside therapists in training. If you have any questions about a possible referral, please email CPT@ed.ac.uk.
