Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is one of the ‘third wave’ Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) approaches. It combines aspects of traditional CBT with acceptance and mindfulness strategies, alongside commitment and behaviour-based change strategies.

Through the use of these techniques, you will learn to connect in a healthier and more adaptive way to your thoughts, feelings, memories and physical sensations, which you may have previously avoided or been unaware of.

ACT aims to help you create a rich, full, and meaningful life, while accepting the difficulties that life inevitably brings. One of the central messages of ACT is to accept what is out of your personal control, and commit to taking action that enriches your life and supports you to live in line with your values.

ACT does this by:

• teaching you psychological skills to handle painful thoughts and feelings effectively, in such a way that those thoughts have much less impact and influence on us
• helping you to clarify what’s truly important and meaningful to you, and using that knowledge to guide, inspire, and motivate you to set goals and take action that enriches your life.

ACT is an evidence-based treatment, which has been found to be effective in the treatment of many conditions, including Depression, Anxiety Disorders, Chronic Pain and Eating Disorders.

The number of sessions you will undertake will be discussed following your initial assessment and will be reviewed regularly throughout your treatment. We seek to establish successful partnerships between client and therapist in order to achieve authentic therapeutic relationships and effective outcomes.

If you would like to know more about ACT or other treatments, please contact us to ensure you feel confident in any decisions you make regarding your treatment.

Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT) aims to help you understand why things have gone wrong in the past and explores how to prevent you from repeating bad decision-making or behaviour. CAT provides you with the opportunity to explore your individual experiences from both a cognitive and analytical perspective – this means that therapy will explore past events and experiences in order to help you to understand why you think, feel or behave the way you do, before helping you problem solve and develop new ways of coping.

Similarly to Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), CAT emphasises that you develop the tools to deal with your own psychological challenges in the future.

The number of sessions you will be seen for will be discussed following the initial assessment and reviewed regularly throughout your treatment. We seek to establish successful partnerships between client and therapist in order to achieve authentic therapeutic relationships and effective outcomes.

If you would like to know more about CAT or other treatments, please contact us so that you can feel confident in any decisions you make about your treatment.

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) is based on the theory that thoughts, feelings, physical sensations and behaviours are all interconnected, and that negative thoughts and feelings can lead to the development and maintenance of a vicious cycle. The aim of CBT is to help you change these negative patterns to improve the way you think, feel and behave.

In CBT, you will work collaboratively with your therapist to achieve change and the focus of therapy tends to be on the here-and-now. Eventually, you will develop a range of skills and techniques that will enable you to become your own therapist, and that you will be able to apply in future should any new difficulties or issues arise.

CBT is an evidence-based approach, which has been found to be effective in the treatment of a wide range of mental health difficulties including: Depression, Anxiety, Eating Disorders, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Panic Disorder, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Psychosis and stress.

CBT at Sanctum

At Sanctum, we psychologists are highly skilled in delivering traditional CBT, as well as it’s variants that have been developed to intervene more effectively for specific psychological presentations such as CBT for Trauma, and CBT for Psychosis.

CBT can be accessed as both a one-to-one and group therapy option (for couples or families).

The number of sessions you will be seen for will be discussed following the initial assessment and reviewed regularly throughout your treatment. We seek to establish successful partnerships between client and therapist in order to achieve authentic therapeutic relationships and effective outcomes.

If you would like to know more about CBT or other treatments, please contact us so that you can feel confident in any decisions you make about your treatment.  

Online teletherapy options are also available.

Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT) aims to help those who experience mental health problems that feature high levels of shame and self-criticism. It will help you to learn how to feel and show greater kindness towards yourself and and others, and to feel safe and capable in a world that can seem overwhelming.

CFT draws upon an evolutionary theory and considers how this affects the way people think. Essentially, humans have two parts to their brains. The primitive or ‘old’ part which helps us survive. It ensures we have food, shelter, are loved and are safe. This part is also responsible for our natural autonomic stress response – ‘fight or flight’. It tends to be here where problems like anxiety and depression can originate.

Difficulties often arise when the new and old parts of the brain conflict or get confused. The basic and instinctual drivers of the old part can take over and create protective emotions (like anxiety).

One reason for such difficulties is that people may not have developed abilities to experience certain positive emotions such as safeness, reassurance and compassion. CFT was developed with, and for, people who find it difficult to stimulate certain types of positive emotion.

At Sanctum we are highly skilled at delivering CFT for a range of difficulties. CFT can be accessed as a 1:1 therapy option, and the number of sessions you will be seen for will be discussed following the initial assessment and reviewed regularly throughout your treatment. We seek to establish successful partnerships between client and therapist in order to achieve authentic therapeutic relationships and effective outcomes.

If you would like advice on CFT or other treatments, please contact us so that you can feel confident in any decisions you make about your treatment.

Family Therapy, also referred to as ‘Behavioural Family Therapy (BFT)’ or ‘Systemic Therapy’, is an approach that aims to support all family members equally to better understand one another, change unhelpful behaviours and methods of communication, and resolve conflicts and differences between members in a safe and contained environment. It looks to identify each person’s individual strengths, and gradually builds upon these within the context of the family across the duration of therapy.

Family Therapy is a flexible approach that is individualised and adapted to each family. It may include all members of the immediate family, or may focus on working with just a child and adult or couple for example. It may even include other people outside of the traditional family unit, such as school teachers.

Family Therapy can support families or ‘systems’ with a range of difficulties from relationship and family dynamic breakdowns, to the impact of one family member’s mental illness or challenging behaviours. The therapist will be skilled in remaining neutral, non-blaming, of not taking sides and in facilitating equality within the session to enable every member to have a voice.

At Sanctum we are highly skilled at delivering Family Therapy for a wide range of difficulties, which will be explored in the initial assessment. The number of sessions required will vary from family to family, and will be discussed following the initial assessment and reviewed regularly throughout therapy. We seek to establish successful partnerships between families and therapist in order to achieve authentic therapeutic relationships and effective outcomes.

If you would like advice or further information about Family Therapy or other treatments, please contact us so that you can feel confident in any decisions you make about your treatment.

Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) is an approach that combines the practice of mindfulness meditation with Cognitive Therapy techniques to help you break the cycle of negative thought patterns.

MBCT teaches you to pay attention to the present moment, rather than worrying about the past or the future, and to calmly acknowledge and accepts thoughts, feelings, urges and bodily sensations. The focus of this therapy is to help you to understand the different patterns of your mind that often underpin mood disorders and difficulties and to nurture skills in developing a new relationship to them.

MBCT is evidenced to be highly effective in treating those with a range of conditions, including Recurrent Depression, Sleep Disorders, Anxiety and stress.

At Sanctum we offer MBCT as a one-to-one and group therapy option for couples and families. The number of sessions you will be seen for will be discussed following the initial assessment and reviewed regularly throughout your treatment.

If you would like to know about MBCT or any other treatments, please contact us so that you can feel confident in any decisions you make about your treatment.

Motivational Interviewing (MI) is an approach that aims to help you resolve ambivalent feelings and insecurities, and to find the internal motivation you need to change unhelpful behaviours. It is a practical, compassionate and short-term process that takes into consideration how difficult it is to commit to and implement life changes.

MI is often used in the treatment of Eating Disorders and in the management of physical health conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and asthma. The therapy enables you to become motivated to make positive changes to the behaviours that may be preventing you from making healthier choices. It can also prepare individuals for further, more specific types of therapies.

At Sanctum, MI can be accessed as a one-to-one therapy option and may be used alone or in conjunction with aspects of another therapy. The number of sessions you will be seen for will be discussed following the initial assessment and reviewed regularly throughout your treatment. We seek to establish successful partnerships between client and therapist in order to achieve authentic therapeutic relationships and effective outcomes.

If you would like to know more about MI or any other treatments, please contact us so that you can feel confident in any decisions you make about your treatment.

Narrative Therapy is an approach that focuses on the telling of stories and the shaping of new realities and narratives. It is a collaborative, non-blaming approach which views you as the expert in your own life and emphasises separating the person from their problems.

In Narrative Therapy, solutions, strengths and abilities are emphasised and utilised to alleviate psychological distress which promote healthier more adaptive functioning. This allows individuals to develop a new perspective about themselves or others, feel more empowered to make changes in their thought patterns and behaviour, and to ‘rewrite’ their life story for a future that reflects who they are, what they are capable of and what their purpose is.

Narrative Therapy is highly effective when working with children and families, and with individuals with long-term conditions such as Psychosis. It is further recommended as a supportive therapy for Grief and Bereavement, helping the individual to ‘re-member’ their lost one, and support them on their journey through the stages of grief.

At Sanctum, Narrative Therapy is a treatment option that may be used alone or in conjunction with aspects of another therapy. This flexibility is maintained so that the needs of the individual, couple or family can be met and the most appropriate therapeutic strategies employed. The number of sessions you will be seen for will be discussed following the initial assessment and reviewed regularly throughout your treatment.

If you would like to know more about Narrative Therapy or any other treatments, please contact us so that you can feel confident in any decisions you make about your treatment.

Solution Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) is a future-focused, goal-directed intervention, which focuses on constructing and identifying solutions rather than focusing solely on one’s difficulties. Whilst SFBT of course acknowledges people’s difficulties and distress, it aims to explore these challenges solely within the context of understanding the situation people would like support with, in order to enact change.

SFBT focuses on identifying and utilising people’s own innate strengths in order to achieve set goals. As SFBT recognises that the individual is the expert in their own life, the therapist works collaboratively with the individual to identify and set realistic goals which feel attainable and meaningful. The process of SFBT involves collaboratively exploring what change may look and/or feel like in order to identify what the person would like to be different in their life. Once these goals are identified, the SFBT therapist supports the individual to formulate, motivate and achieve sustainable behavioural change. While change can feel daunting and unattainable at times, SFBT recognises that change is constant and inevitable, and the therapist’s role is to support the person throughout their journey in order to achieve long-lasting change.

Though SFBT is a short-term therapeutic approach, its principles can be utilised and incorporated into a person’s everyday life long-term. This therapy ultimately focuses on what you can do, rather than what you cannot do. SFBT is an evidence-based psychological approach for difficulties such as anxiety, depression, low self-esteem and relationship problems.

At Sanctum, SFBT can be accessed through one-to-one therapy. Additionally, some of it’s principles and strategies may be employed in conjunction with other therapies. The number of sessions you will undertake will be discussed following your initial assessment and will be reviewed regularly throughout your treatment. We seek to establish successful partnerships between client and therapist in order to achieve authentic therapeutic relationships and effective outcomes.

If you would like to know more about SFBT or other treatments, please contact us to ensure you feel confident in any decisions you make regarding your treatment.