You have probably heard of CBT. It is the therapy most often mentioned in the media, recommended by GPs, and offered through the NHS. But if you have ever wondered what cognitive behavioural therapy actually involves, whether it would suit you, or how to access it here in York, you are in the right place.

CBT is one of the most thoroughly researched psychological therapies we have. Decades of evidence support its use for anxiety, low mood, trauma, and a wide range of other difficulties. Yet it is also widely misunderstood, sometimes dismissed as quick, surface level, or overly focused on thinking positively.

As a Counselling Psychologist based in York, I trained in CBT to postgraduate level at the University of Oxford, and I draw on it regularly in my work. In this post I want to explain clearly what CBT is, how it works in practice, who it tends to help, and what your options are for accessing it locally.

What Is CBT?

Cognitive behavioural therapy is a structured, collaborative form of talking therapy. At its heart is a simple but powerful idea: our thoughts, feelings, physical sensations, and behaviours are all connected. When one of them shifts, the others tend to shift too.

This matters, because it means we are not stuck. Even when we cannot change a difficult situation directly, we can often change how we relate to it, and that change can ripple outwards into how we feel and what we do.

Imagine you make a small mistake at work. The thought “everyone thinks I am incompetent” might trigger anxiety (a feeling), a racing heart and tight chest (physical sensations), and a tendency to stay quiet in the next meeting (a behaviour). That silence then seems to confirm the original thought, and the cycle tightens. CBT helps you notice this loop, step back from it, and gently change the parts that are within your influence.

How Does CBT Work in Practice?

CBT is practical and present focused. Rather than spending most of the time exploring the distant past, it concentrates on what is keeping a difficulty going now, and what can realistically be done about it. That said, understanding how earlier experiences shaped your current patterns is often an important part of the work, particularly where trauma is involved.

A typical course of CBT

A course of CBT is usually time limited, often somewhere between six and twenty sessions depending on the difficulty, though this varies a good deal from person to person. The aim is for you to become your own therapist over time, equipped with tools you can keep using long after our work together has finished.

What Can CBT Help With?

CBT has one of the strongest evidence bases of any psychological therapy, and it is recommended in national clinical guidance for a wide range of difficulties. Some of the most common include:

CBT also has good evidence for difficulties such as obsessive compulsive patterns, health anxiety, sleep problems, and panic. It can be adapted for emotion regulation difficulties, and is often combined with other approaches for more complex presentations. If you would like to read more around these areas, you may find my posts on emotion regulation and feeling overwhelmed and on the signs, causes and recovery from burnout helpful.

Common Myths About CBT

Because CBT is so widely discussed, a fair amount of misunderstanding has grown up around it. Here are four of the ideas I hear most often.

Myth: “CBT is just positive thinking.” CBT is not about replacing negative thoughts with cheerful ones. It is about looking at your thinking more accurately. Often the goal is not a more positive thought, but a more balanced and realistic one, which is a very different thing.

Myth: “CBT ignores the past and your emotions.” Good CBT pays close attention to feelings, and to how your history shaped the patterns you live with now. The difference is that it does not stop at insight: it also works towards practical change in the present.

Myth: “CBT is rigid and one size fits all.” CBT is structured, but it is also highly adaptable. A skilled practitioner tailors it to you, and a Counselling Psychologist will often weave it together with other approaches rather than following a rigid protocol.

Myth: “CBT is just a quick fix.” CBT is often time limited, but that is not the same as superficial. The aim is lasting change: building skills and understanding that continue to serve you long after the sessions end.

CBT as Part of a Wider, Personalised Approach

One of the questions I am asked most often is whether I “do CBT” or “trauma therapy” or “person-centred work”, as though these were entirely separate services. In practice, they are not.

As a Counselling Psychologist, I am trained across a range of evidence-based models, and CBT is one important tool among several. For some people, a fairly structured course of CBT is exactly what is needed. For others, the work draws more on trauma-focused approaches, person-centred principles, or a blend of all of these, shaped around what will help most.

What stays constant is the commitment to evidence-based practice, and to treating you as a whole person rather than a set of symptoms. You can read more about how I work on my psychological therapy page.

Accessing CBT in York

CBT is available in York through NHS Talking Therapies, through private psychological therapy, and online. CBT works well remotely as well as in person, and many people find online sessions just as effective, which can help if you are balancing work, caring responsibilities, or live further out across Yorkshire.

If you would like a fuller picture of the routes to support, how to weigh up NHS and private therapy, and how to check a practitioner’s credentials, I have written a separate guide on exactly this: Finding a Therapist in York: Your Options Explained.

At Sennah Psychology, I offer psychological therapy to adults in York and online, drawing on CBT alongside other evidence-based approaches. I am currently on maternity leave and not taking on new therapy clients, but you are warmly welcome to join my waiting list, and I will be in touch when I return.