How Can CBT Help to Treat Stress?

Six sessions is most commonly prescribed on the NHS because it is the shortest amount of time that can be provided and still shows some evidence of positive outcomes. This number of sessions can be most helpful if you are generally confident and you are facing a specific and not too complex stress situation. If the stress you are experiencing has been prolonged, your self-esteem is low or there are several other stress inducing factors you have to cope with, 6 sessions is unlikely to help you tackle it all completely.

12 Sessions

Twelve sessions of CBT therapy is more commonly recommended when alongside the stress inducing situation you also have to deal with accompanying issues such as anxiety, low-self esteem and or depression. It may also be more helpful if you are dealing with more than one stress causing issue in your life.

24 Sessions or More

Twenty four sessions or more may be recommended when the stress you are facing has been longstanding and there are other longstanding factors affecting your wellbeing such as accompanying anxiety and depression.

Whilst CBT therapy provides some excellent tools for understanding and coping better with stress, it is sometimes limited in its ability to achieve more than this. At KlearMinds, we have seen many people who have had CBT therapy for stress but found it hasn’t addressed the whole picture for them and symptoms return. This is generally because CBT doesn’t treat older, underlying roots, which may be limiting your capacity to manage stress effectively, on an ongoing basis. To address this therapeutic shortfall, we also provide a range of psychotherapies that can help you understand the original root of the problem, so that new coping strategies make more sense, as you address the problem from the root upwards. This approach can result in more lasting and comprehensive change, than may be achieved through cognitive behavioural therapy alone.