Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
The approach which I use to help clients in counselling is cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). In this approach, I help clients to address aspects of their lives which affect them negatively through changes in their thinking and behavior. In my role as a Calgary psychologist and a Cochrane psychologist, I work with my clients to help them take steps to target current and past stressful events in their lives, do more activities which help them to cope with stress, take care of their physical well-being and learn to perceive events with a balanced psychological perspective. This approach helps my clients to manage their moods so that they can lead emotionally fulfilling and enjoyable lives while coping effectively with negative events which they come across. I am a certified therapist with the Academy of Cognitive Therapy and the Canadian Association of Cognitive and Behavioural Therapies, organizations whose members have been assessed for proficiency in CBT.
Breaking the Problem Down
I help clients to break their problems down into specific elements which are more manageable and easier to address. I also encourage clients to do homework between sessions as my experience indicates that this homework helps clients to make more progress.
Client Knowledge = Client Power
I encourage my clients to become educated about their issues by asking them to do readings and exercises from books and other materials on the topic of their issues. I have found that clients who are knowledgeable about their issues make better and faster progress than uneducated clients. Learning about one’s issue gives the client ideas for change and helps them to believe that they can be successful in addressing their concerns. These positive expectations lead the client to be more motivated to take the actions which produce success.
Tracking Client Progress
Finally, I track client progress be regularly assessing the progress they have been making on the goals they came to counselling to pursue. Monitoring progress in this manner allows me and the client to make any adjustments necessary to maximize the likelihood of their attaining further progress on their goals. I also encourage my clients to focus on process goals as a primary way to attain their outcome goals. Process goals are the skills, strategies and actions a client can use which are most likely to result in their making progress on their outcome goals–the results-oriented goals the client is pursuing as their main focus in counselling.