Therapists are very experienced at working with lots of different people. It is very common for someone to feel shy, anxious or uncomfortable about the session. Your therapist will invite you in, ask about what’s brought you to the session or what you feel you need. 

There are some set questions during the assessment that help with suggesting a treatment plan. Your therapist will gently guide you through the questions, giving you prompts or changing the question if needed.

CBT is a collaborative process where you are the expert of your experiences and your therapist is the expert of cognitive and behavioural tools. It is important to be as honest as you can so that we can find the best support for you. Your therapist will be curious and non-judgemental throughout. Most people feel more comfortable and much more confident by the end of the assessment.

You should also read our confidentiality policy.

We do not diagnose mental health conditions. You will be given a working diagnosis, also known as a provisional diagnosis. This is not a formal clinical diagnosis, but a way to understand your symptoms in order to give you the best treatment options available. Full clinical diagnosis can only be made by a medical practitioner such as a GP or Psychiatrist. 

If you have been given a full clinical diagnosis, then you should let us know at your initial assessment so that this can be considered when planning treatment or signposting you to appropriate help and support.

We would usually request to update your GP about accessing our service. At this point we would tell the GP what your working diagnosis is so that they can assist with your future care if needed.

We know that deciding to have therapy is a big decision. CBT requires a commitment of roughly 10 to 17 hours of treatment. This is delivered in 50 min sessions for one-to-one which equates to 12 to 20 sessions. Groups are 12 hours of treatment, across 6 sessions. The number of sessions you need will depend on the main problem you are experiencing and what you want to achieve. If you would benefit from further sessions, your therapist will discuss this with you.

In addition to this you will also spend time outside of sessions doing homework tasks. These are not designed to be stressful or taxing. What you do and for how long will be decided by you and your therapist together.

If you are having face to face sessions then you would need to consider how to get to and from the therapy space, and how long this would take. You may want to arrive 10 mins early so you can have a drink and a bit of breathing space before you start your session or group*.

For online sessions, you are advised to try to log in prior to the session date in case you need software downloads or updates. Each week you should try to log in 10 mins prior to the session to ensure that your equipment is working. Any problems, call and we will try to help. We can switch to telephone for one or two sessions if you have connection problems but this is not generally offered on an ongoing basis. Group members online should ensure that they can access the group session prior to the session date.

Before agreeing to or paying for online sessions, please ensure that you have reasonable internet speeds and access to a computer or tablet. We are unable to refund sessions due to equipment problems, but we will try to help you access your session if we can.

*Please read the cancellation policy carefully.

At Elsali CBT, we want you to have access to the tools you need to feel better. We
have a number of options to help you achieve your goals and best of all our
Depression and Generalised Anxiety groups for adults can be mixed and matched
with individual sessions. This can significantly reduce overall cost of
therapy. See our services page for more options.

In a word, NO!

In more words…

There is an option to pay for 6 sessions at a time upfront, if this is what you would like to do. For groups this would mean you can pay for the full cost of the group upfront.

We appreciate that when you are not feeling well, your life can be hugely impacted, and this can mean that your finances are also impacted. You may not feel like working at the moment and your income can quickly change. At Elsali CBT we would not expect you to pay for the full cost of treatment upfront! All we ask is that you pay for your next one-to-one in advance*. For groups we ask that you pay for two sessions in advance*. Your appointments are confirmed once payment is received.

If you would like to discuss any of our payment options, pricing plans or have any other questions then please get in touch.

*Please read our cancellation policy carefully.

Assessments are a necessary part of the process. The assessment helps your therapist to find out what it is you need and whether they would be able to help you. Click here to see more about booking an assessment.

Hmm. You know that annoying feeling when you have a form to fill in and it says, “Black Pen Only”. You search high and low, and you find a blue pen, a red pen, a purple felt tip and a pencil. No black pen anywhere! You definitely saw one yesterday, but now can’t remember where on earth it was. Don’t you just hate that feeling?

Or how about buying flatpack furniture for your house, and then going to your toolbox to find that you really need a particular screwdriver and you don’t have it. Its 6pm on a Sunday and no shops are open. How annoying it is when you don’t have access to the right tool for the job!

CBT is a very effective intervention, but you need the right tool for the right job! CBT is also big financial commitment so you would not want to end therapy only to find that what you learned really isn’t that helpful in your life. The point of homework tasks is to help you identify what difficulties you are experiencing, what you need to do to improve those difficulties and which tools will help you feel better.

Homework tasks should not be stressful. They are created by you and your therapist together. Homework tasks help you to learn about yourself and embed your new cognitive and behavioural tools into your life, by using your new tools as you learn them. Your therapist will always check in with you on how homework tasks are going, so if a particular tool isn’t working or just isn’t right for you then you can discuss this with your therapist in your next session. You and your therapist will work together to find the most helpful tools for you. As you practice the tools in your real life and begin to feel confident with them, you become like your own therapist or your own coach. Once you can do it yourself, you don’t need a therapist!

Psst! Your therapist also has homework to do. Planning your next session, thinking about what other tools might help you, having supervision to make sure they are delivering the best treatment possible to you. You can also ask them to research, read or listen to things that would help them understand you better.

CBT is not specifically for bereavement. However, some people do find that the structure and support of CBT is helpful during difficult times. In particular, aspects of CBT for Depression can be useful for setting schedules, planning in pleasurable activities and slowly planning in tasks in a manageable way. It can also help you to challenge any negative thoughts or feelings you may have. Counselling is a good way to open up about losing your loved one but it is recommended that some time passes wherein the natural healing process has been able to run its course. CBT can prepare you for counselling but it would not involve exploration of bereavement like counselling would. CBT focus would be on the current cognitive and behavioural symptoms you are experiencing.

Therapy is a personal decision and is based on lots of factors so it is likely that you will have further questions. You may contact us by telephone or email and we will get back to you as soon as possible. It is helpful if you leave a message with your availability for a return call. Visit our Contact us page to see how you can get in touch.

The easiest way to book an assessment is through our booking form. Or you can get in touch using our contact form on our Contact us page. If you would prefer,  you can call us and book over the phone. Leave a short message and we will call you back as soon as possible.

If you have already had an assessment and want to book a treatment session, then please call us or email us at info@elsalicbt.co.uk. Do not send any payment or personal information over email.