Michelle Benn
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
BABCP Accredited Member
I am a Cognitive Behavioural Therapist with 12 years experience of delivering CBT to adults and young people in a variety of settings including the Leeds NHS led IAPT service, Bradford NHS Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service, Leeds City College and the Well Women's Centre in Wakefield. I hold full accredited status with the BABCP which means I have met and continue to meet the required high standards for training, practice and continued professional development.
What is CBT? And what to expect in therapy
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is a structured talking therapy with a sound evidence base in treating problems such as depression, low self esteem, panic, stress, obsessional problems, fears and phobias, sleep problems, post traumatic stress, health anxieties and excessive worry. CBT offers a practical approach to tackling problems which focuses in the main on the present time rather than on the past. Careful thought will be given in therapy to the interaction between the thoughts, feelings and behaviours involved in your experiences and problems in order to understand what might be keeping your problems going. Once we have worked together to make sense of this, therapy focuses on helping you to learn and practice skills and techniques to reduce distress and enhance your coping skills so that you can lead a life with a greater sense of enjoyment and fulfilment.
Other treatments offered
If you are looking for help to deal with anxiety, fears and phobias you can also choose to receive CBT incorporating Virtual Reality. This involves the use of the latest technology to allow gradual exposure through a headset in the comfort of our therapy room to feared situations such as public speaking, social situations, Interview situations, school phobia, driving, heights, enclosed spaces and needles. You will be in control of the pace of exposure, repeating certain scenes and practicing interacting in feared situations, gradually increasing the challenge until you anxiety has reduced and you have developed a greater degree of tolerance in anxiety provoking situations. Also available are interactive educational experiences which help you understand and cope with depression, anxiety and post traumatic stress. My VR programmes can also help build skills in mindfulness, meditation and relaxation.
My approach
The relationship is an important part of CBT and so its important that you find a therapist who you feel you can trust and feel comfortable with. I aim to work alongside you, combining my skills and experience with your expert knowledge of your life and your difficulties alongside your strengths and your skills. My experience and research shows this approach is essential for therapy to be effective.
The feedback I've received over the years from clients which has stayed in my mind has been the comments people have made about feeling comfortable, understood, cared about and heard, sometimes for the first time. This matters because the relationships i have been part of creating have enabled people to feel safe enough to honestly explore their troubles, face their fears and take the risk to do the work necessary for a more contented life.
Next Steps
If you would like to find out more please feel free to have a look at my individual website here www.cbtleeds.org.uk
You can also contact me by emailing me on michelle@cbtleeds.org.uk or by ringing 07942642755. I am happy to offer a brief telephone consultation for us to discuss whether CBT could be the right type of therapy for you.
email: michelle@cbtleeds.org.uk
phone: 07942 642 755
What is CBT? And what to expect in therapy
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is a structured talking therapy with a sound evidence base in treating problems such as depression, low self esteem, panic, stress, obsessional problems, fears and phobias, sleep problems, post traumatic stress, health anxieties and excessive worry. CBT offers a practical approach to tackling problems which focuses in the main on the present time rather than on the past. Careful thought will be given in therapy to the interaction between the thoughts, feelings and behaviours involved in your experiences and problems in order to understand what might be keeping your problems going. Once we have worked together to make sense of this, therapy focuses on helping you to learn and practice skills and techniques to reduce distress and enhance your coping skills so that you can lead a life with a greater sense of enjoyment and fulfilment.
Other treatments offered
If you are looking for help to deal with anxiety, fears and phobias you can also choose to receive CBT incorporating Virtual Reality. This involves the use of the latest technology to allow gradual exposure through a headset in the comfort of our therapy room to feared situations such as public speaking, social situations, Interview situations, school phobia, driving, heights, enclosed spaces and needles. You will be in control of the pace of exposure, repeating certain scenes and practicing interacting in feared situations, gradually increasing the challenge until you anxiety has reduced and you have developed a greater degree of tolerance in anxiety provoking situations. Also available are interactive educational experiences which help you understand and cope with depression, anxiety and post traumatic stress. My VR programmes can also help build skills in mindfulness, meditation and relaxation.
My approach
The relationship is an important part of CBT and so its important that you find a therapist who you feel you can trust and feel comfortable with. I aim to work alongside you, combining my skills and experience with your expert knowledge of your life and your difficulties alongside your strengths and your skills. My experience and research shows this approach is essential for therapy to be effective.
The feedback I've received over the years from clients which has stayed in my mind has been the comments people have made about feeling comfortable, understood, cared about and heard, sometimes for the first time. This matters because the relationships i have been part of creating have enabled people to feel safe enough to honestly explore their troubles, face their fears and take the risk to do the work necessary for a more contented life.
Next Steps
If you would like to find out more please feel free to have a look at my individual website here www.cbtleeds.org.uk
You can also contact me by emailing me on michelle@cbtleeds.org.uk or by ringing 07942642755. I am happy to offer a brief telephone consultation for us to discuss whether CBT could be the right type of therapy for you.
email: michelle@cbtleeds.org.uk
phone: 07942 642 755