CBT Therapy and Stress

Stress is the feeling of being under too much mental or emotional pressure. Pressure turns into stress when you feel unable to cope. People have different ways of reacting to stress, so a situation that feels stressful to one person may be motivating to someone else. Many of life’s demands can cause stress, particularly work, relationships and money problems. Life is so stressful. Trying to juggle the demands of our personal and professional lives can be and often is, very difficult and at times can cause us to suffer from stress.

Possible Causes of Stress

Stress affects people differently and the things that cause stress vary greatly from one person to another.

The level of stress you are comfortable with may be higher or lower than that of other people around you. Stressful feelings typically happen when we feel we do not have the resources to manage the challenges we face or the problem or situation feels like it is out of our control.

Work pressures, issues and problems at home, illness, or difficult or sudden life events can all lead to us feeling stressed. If we keep “soldiering on” without getting help or taking proactive measures our stress can easily tip over in to anxiety.

Some common causes of stress are:

• Work pressures. Deadlines. Targets. Working long hours. Being treated unfairly at work. Feeling you are in the wrong job/ role. Feeling “out of your depth” in your role/job. Long and exhausting commutes. Managing people and the issues/ problems that arise. Being victimised or bullied at work.
• Experiencing difficulties in our personal lives and relationships.
• Big or unexpected life changes, like moving house, having a baby or starting to care for someone.
• Lots of us stress and worry about money.
• Long term health issues, either if you or someone close to you are affected.
• Living with chronic pain or other physical difficulties can also be stressful.
• Not getting enough sleep at night.
• Excessive worry.
• Being overly self critical of ourselves or others.
• Pregnancy and having and raising children.
• Feeling lonely, unsupported or not that “no one cares”.

What Signs of Stress Should I be Looking Out For?

If you are stressed, you may:

• Feel overwhelmed
• Have racing thoughts or difficulty concentrating
• Notice that it’s harder to remember things normally you would have no problem recalling.
• Feel more emotional than usual
• Be irritable and snappy
• Experience excessive tension/ pain in our bodies
• Feel constantly worried, anxious or scared
• Feel a lack of self-confidence and self worth
• Have trouble sleeping or feel tired all the time
• Avoid things or people you are having problems with
• Eat more or less than usual
• Drink or smoke more than usual

How can CBT Therapy help with Stress?

• CBT Therapy can help identify the area/ areas that are causing our stress.
• We can help you identify what is in your control and what is out of your control
• We can help you to think/ relate to the area/ areas that are causing you stress in a more “helpful” way
• We can identify and work with you to integrate stress relieving activities/ behaviours into your life
• We can teach you problem solving techniques to tackle the stressful areas head on
• We can teach you to bring greater acceptance to the area/ areas of difficulty particularly important if the area/areas that are causing you stress are not in your control.
• We can teach you to let go of “Perfectionistic” ideas and Self Imposed “Rules” that may be causing more stress.
• We can teach you to talk and treat yourself more kindly. Did you know that being self critical can activate your stress response in your body and mind? Being kind to yourself can counteract the “fight or flight” mechanism.
• We can teach you Mindfulness Meditation – a wonderful antidote to stress.

If you are serious about reducing the stress in your life then please contact us using the form below. We are here to help you all we can.

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CBT Therapy London

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT Therapy), Mindfulness Meditation and Medication can all be used to treat stress. We’ll tailor a plan to your circumstances, medical history, and underlying conditions to help you live a balanced life managing your stress.

The CBT Clinic London understands stress / stress related issues  and can help. After assessing your symptoms, medical history, and severity of your stress, we can divide a treatment plan and help you live your life to the full again.

Getting help is easy. Simply complete our new patient registration form or if you have questions, contact our friendly team who will assist you. You can call us on 0207 157 9924 or Book Online. Consultations are free and will reveal your diagnosis and enable us to create a customised treatment plan.