Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is the most thoroughly researched form of psychotherapy and a required component of contemporary clinical competence. Our nine-week foundational programme is aimed at clinicians who need to deliver reliable, structured treatment for common mental health conditions and who want their practice rooted in the contemporary research base rather than in outdated first-generation models.

The course is built around the unified cognitive model — the idea that thoughts, affect, physiology and behaviour interact in predictable loops, and that clinical change can be engineered by intervening systematically at each point in the loop. Participants learn to construct a clear case conceptualisation, to negotiate a treatment agreement, to deliver the core interventions (behavioural activation, cognitive restructuring, behavioural experiments, graded exposure) and to adjust the protocol when progress stalls.

Three disorder-specific modules form the heart of the programme: depression, anxiety disorders (including panic and social anxiety), and post-traumatic stress. Each module combines didactic teaching with demonstration videos and role-play practice. Particular attention is paid to the mistakes most commonly made by early-career therapists — premature challenge of cognitions before a working alliance has been established; exposure that is too cautious to produce habituation; failure to target safety behaviours that maintain the disorder.

The programme follows the structure of real clinical work. Week one establishes the therapeutic relationship and the contract. Weeks two and three teach behavioural activation and the cognitive model. Weeks four through six cover protocol-based treatment for depression, anxiety and trauma. Weeks seven and eight address relapse prevention and working with residual symptoms. Week nine is devoted to supervision and to presentation of a completed case.

Assessment is practical. Participants submit a full case conceptualisation in week four, a process note in week six, and a final completed-case presentation (video extract plus written commentary) in week nine. The IPAS Certificate in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is awarded on successful completion and is signed by the President of the Council.