CBT Online in Australia
Last updated date : August 05, 2021
CBT Online in Australia
We see that in today’s rapidly changing and fast-paced world, it is taxing to spare time for personal care. Therefore, CBT in Australia offered through telehealth can help fit mental health care into your busy schedule. CBT online connects people with the largest network of licensed, certified, and experienced CBT therapists Australia-wide. You can get exclusive CBT sessions online that smoothly fit your schedule. It is as easy as turning on your smartphone.
CBT can help you break the vicious cycle of unhelpful thoughts, help you get unstuck, and make profound changes in your life. Due to its flexibility, CBT online offers many of the benefits found in traditional face-to-face CBT therapy.
Insight into CBT online:
CBT online in Australia is one of the most commonly used psychotherapy approaches to treat a variety of mental health problems. The goal of CBT is to help people recognize how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors influence each other. CBT is about unlearning faulty beliefs and replacing them with the ones that are beneficial. The benefit of CBT is you can change the way you think so that you feel and act better, even if the situation hasn’t changed.
In CBT you will learn about automatic thoughts and how they can cause you stress without realizing them. You and your therapist will also dig deep into your core beliefs from which all negative thoughts and feelings stem.
Automatic Thoughts
Something happens to us and we use thoughts to interpret that event. In fact, automatic thoughts and beliefs happen as soon as the event occurs. This interpretation happens so fast usually outside of our awareness that we can’t even notice that happening. And finally, we react to those thoughts, feelings, and sensations through faulty behaviors. Emotions, thoughts, and behavior are very much interrelated and they all happen inside the brain.
Core Beliefs
People experience everything through the lens of their core beliefs. These beliefs affect the manner in which they view the world and that, it is their beliefs and construal of events that are, in fact, more important in the ultimate response to life’s events than the events themselves. All thoughts and feelings usually arise from core beliefs.
CBT online is used to challenge these core beliefs and replaces them with the ones that are beneficial. This can be more challenging than it sounds. With this in mind, CBT therapists online act as active support for the clients.
During CBT the therapist will try to help their clients identify their own core beliefs. For instance, “My core value as an individual depends on how others think of me”.
For lasting change, CBT therapists in Australia often work online with the deeper levels of the client’s beliefs
How is Online CBT Different from In-Person CBT?
Online CBT in Australia will be able to replicate some of the best features of in-person CBT closely. The core techniques focus on homework, a toolkit of skills, and the benefit of CBT will remain in place when the treatment moves online.
CBT, when performed online, will provide a few additional positives such as:
Adds a level of Convenience
Online CBT in Australia adds a level of comfort that in-person therapy cannot match. You get to chose the time and ask for sessions at your own freedom. You need not drive to the therapist’s office. It also can shorten the amount of time spent waiting for a therapist. Hence, you can make the therapy as structured or unstructured as you want.
Is Cost-effective
Online CBT in Australia could provide a lower cost compared to in-person treatments. You pay much less than would with in-person therapy. Hence, it helps you get affordable help at your fingertips.
Provides Comfortable and Safe experience
Many people feel much more homely communicating through their phones than another person face-to-face. Online CBT in Australia provides you with a safe and pleasant experience. With this ease of communication, fewer barriers to enter treatment exist, especially for people in their teens and early twenties.
Increases access to therapy
For much mental health, problems access is limited. Online CBT in Australia allows clients to choose between a number of therapists, which inspires a sense of control over the process. You can access therapy from a far rural community. Also if you struggle to leave home due to disabling mental or physical problems then CBT online is the right choice for you.
Though in-person treatments will always vary from online options, the gap is becoming smaller day by day.
What Can Online CBT Help With?
CBT online in Australia is just the right fit for you if you are dealing with:
Like its in-person counterpart, CBT online can be an effective tool not only for people with mental disorders but to help anyone better manage stressful life situations. It is particularly useful for mental health issues associated with a medical condition. It helps in coping up with a chronic illness or new diagnosis. Also, it works for managing chronic low back pain, fibromyalgia, and IBS.
CBT online is generally considered a short-term therapy ranging from 12-20 sessions. However, the number of online sessions and the number of days a week can be set periodically. It can also be adjusted according to the ease and needs of the client.
CBT online can be offered through various options such as phone calls, video chats, email, text-based chat, or via specific apps. You get to decide how much contact and personalized care do you require on part of your therapist.
Is it Effective?
CBT is a scientifically proven treatment that actually works. Whether offered through online sessions or in-person, CBT has shown enormous efficacy. Although the services are relatively new and the subject of recent research, studies show that CBT online is as much effective as face-to-face in-person therapy.
A study found that online CBT sessions for people with depression yielded the same results as receiving in-person face-to-face sessions.
Moreover, it is also proposed that CBT online can offer even greater long-term benefits than in-person therapy. Hence, the future of online CBT is safe, secure, and effective.
You can talk to CBT specialists online at your ease, anytime and anywhere across Australia.
How Does CBT online Work?
In essence, CBT via online therapy follows through the same principles and strategies as in-person CBT. The cornerstone of any CBT therapy is the bidirectional model known as the CBT triangle.
CBT Triangle
This model simply implies that each part of the triangle affects the other. The triangle represents thoughts, feelings, and body sensations
For example, anxiety can make a person feel scared. As a result, they will have worried thoughts and obvious body sensations such as heart palpitations, sweaty palms, tension, etc. In fact, this experience as a whole is what we call anxiety.
Typically, there is a trigger to these thoughts, feelings, and sensations. To explain, a social gathering will trigger a person having social anxiety. The person will feel very worried and fearful. He or she will have very predictable thoughts. They can be thoughts such as people don’t like me, or I’m not going to be accepted in this circle, etc. And also, he or she will have physical sensations such as muscle tension. That internal state is going to create particular behavior such as avoiding or leaving social gatherings. So, he or she will use behavior to change triggers in order to improve their emotional state.
CBT works by targeting not only the triggers but by also looking at thoughts and feelings that are adding to the behavior. Hence, CBT online works in terms of both the particular situation that clients face and general ways of approaching their lives. CBT therapists recognize that some of the distress that clients face is a result of particular patterns of thinking. And some results from beliefs that clients hold about themselves and the world.
Common online CBT Techniques
In CBT online clients will develop a series of insights, and strategies that they can apply in the future if problems recur. Hence, skill acquisition, homework assignments, and CBT toolkit are what set CBT online apart from “talk therapies.
Goal Setting
It allows focused treatment and helps clients monitor progress. Your therapist helps you to draw up a list of goals you wish to achieve from therapy. In particular, the goals must be specific and realistic. Hence, you and your therapist mutually agree upon therapy goals.
CBT Toolkit:
CBT online supports you with hands-on tools
The toolbox will comprise an extensive collection of online CBT resources. They can be questionnaires, quizzes, worksheets, handouts, quick tips, and videos. You and your therapist can customize all the resources from the CBT toolkit to fit your needs. Hence, it is a complete toolbox based on CBT. You will get all the tools you need to be happier.
Cognitive Reframing:
It is about working with thoughts that aren’t working for you
Typically, unhelpful thoughts are the first targets in CBT. This technique challenges thinking errors. It helps you think in a different way. You also get to know the relationship between what you do and how you feel. If you can understand and modify your thoughts, behaviors, and moods there’s a good chance that you will feel better.
Behavioral Changes:
It is the opposite action to emotion action
It is equally important to focus on things patients can do now to change. In essence, this technique implies positive behaviors to improve mood. The goal is to introduce behaviors that will help bring change in the patient’s life. For depressed persons, increasing their activities daily improves mood and decreases symptoms of depression.
Problem-solving strategies:
These strategies generally identify effective means of coping with problems of everyday living. These strategies can help with a wide range of problems. They can be used for depression, anxiety, anger and aggression, addiction, coping with illness, and relationship problems.
Exposure:
Exposure interrupts the fearfull pattern by helping you approach things you had previously avoided.
Because we tend to avoid what we fear or are anxious about, our anxiety and fearful thoughts increase. If you are afraid of spiders, you avoid spiders. The longer you avoid them, the more your mind tells you frightening stories about them that don’t accord with reality. Because you have been avoiding them consistently, you don’t have any evidence against those fearful stories, so you believe them even more
Online CBT stresses the importance of exposure for clients who have anxiety and phobias. It makes them visit and expose themselves to fearful situations to gain power over them.
Relaxation:
Your therapist will provide you with mindfulness audios and tips to relax. The goal is to learn specific relaxation skills such as muscle relaxation, breathing retraining, and imagery. Thus, relaxation consists of a collection of techniques designed to reduce tension, stress, and worry.
Homework:
Homework is a major part of CBT. You will be expected to actively participate in your own therapy. For example, your therapist can ask you to keep a thought record or a journal. You may also be assigned between online session homework. Thus, CBT works in a collaborative way.
Who can Provide online CBT Therapy Services?
There is a range of professionals available to offer online CBT sessions. You can get CBT sessions online from a psychologist, licensed counselor, clinical social worker, or psychiatrist with training and experience in CBT. CBT therapists in Australia will carry a license in the state to practice as mental health practitioners.
It is important to have a warm, supporting, and trusting relationship with your therapist. You can also switch your therapist if you feel uncomfortable or if there are no improvements in your symptoms.
How to Find a CBT Therapist Online?
With the advances and best technology, it is as easier to find a CBT therapist online as it is in person. You can also ask your GP for a referral to an online CBT therapist. CBT therapists in Australia are widely available online to offer CBT services. Through our telehealth platform, you can find a good fit for a CBT specialist.
What to Expect at Your First Online CBT Session?
Your first session at CBT will contain many of the important aspects of in-person CBT. It will cover the following features:
Principal Questions to Ask your Therapist When considering online CBT?
Consider asking the following essential questions from your therapist at the beginning of the therapy:
Are there any Risks ?
Every therapy carries some risk and so does CBT online. It may pose risks in matters related to privacy and rapport building during therapy. Online CBT may affect the empathy of the therapist and the trust of the client. It may also cause worsening of symptoms because therapy can be uncomfortable and distressing sometimes. However, any risks can be minimized by working with a skilled therapist.
CBT therapists in Australia will keep your data and video site encrypted. Anything that is shared cannot easily become public. Only you and your therapist can access it.
You can also request another therapist if you feel like your bond with the therapist isn’t a good one.
A Word of Farewell:
In nutshell, CBT online is worth considering. With CBT online you can identify the thoughts and beliefs that are maintaining unhappiness and can choose to change them. Our easy and safe platform gives you the ability to talk to your therapist anytime, anywhere Australia-wide.
Online CBT is now available to anyone who wants it in Australia. There is high quality online therapy at your hand.
If you have been struggling with some kind of challenge or an emotional problem then CBT may be the answer you have been looking for. People suffering from mental health problems should consider online CBT as a viable option for improving their well-being
You can get the resources and the best possible fit of CBT therapists in Australia via telehealth. Our teletherapy program offering CBT provides you with the information, tools, and guidance you need to overcome your problems. Just contact us to request an online appointment.
You will need a referral (Mental Health Care Plan) from your GP to see one of our psychologists.