What to Expect When Doing CBT with Keith

In order for me to be most helpful, I must understand the nature of the challenges that are bringing you to seek CBT at this time. This typically includes using diagnostic assessment tools and hearing about your experience more in depth. Assessment typically lasts 1 to 2 sessions.

Based on what we learn through your assessment, we will identify methods to measure progress toward your goals. We will then reassess these benchmarks across treatment to evaluate how effective our treatment plan is. Typically, clients will complete several self-report assessments that map onto their goals regularly.

An important step in therapeutic change is increasing our understanding of a problem before we begin to try to alter how we respond to life’s challenges. I often spend a few sessions discussing the science behind your OCD, anxiety or other problems that you’re interested in changing. I want to help you become a more informed expert of your emotions and how to approach them.

You and I will team up to outline a plan to accomplish your therapy goals. This treatment plan will serve as a guide for our work and keep us from wandering too far off course! While my job is to recommend interventions appropriate for your goals, you are in charge of your treatment plan and making sure it reflects the changes you want to make through CBT.

For problems like OCD and anxiety, autopilot often keeps our patterns of thinking, feeling, and reacting stuck because we are not fully aware of those patterns as they occur - it is almost as if they happen ‘to us’. Thus, an important step for many people is to learn how to build greater awareness of your emotion-based habits before implementing changes. I am well-trained in teaching awareness training, sometimes called mindfulness, and making it work for you.

Research shows that actively practicing doing is one of the most effective ways to create meaningful change in therapy. That is why I often focus on engaging with the process of behavior change together while in session. This means we won’t just talk about how to do something differently … but we will actually do it together. This allows me to ‘be in the trenches’ with you and help you work through difficult barriers that stop you from changing on your own.

Together, we will identify opportunities to practice translating what we worked on in session into your everyday life. In order to change patterns of thinking, feeling, and reacting, you must practice implementing new strategies and habits until they are nearly automatic. Part of my role will be to support you in generalizing these skills and provide accountability when things gets hard.

Trust is essential for our work together to be effective. I understand, that for clients to take risks in the service of meeting their therapy goals, they must experience a sense of authenticity, caring, and openness from me. As a team, you and I will work to establish safety in the space we create and build a partnership you can rely on.