Health Professionals
How CBT Can Help Your Patients
Using CBT allows a relatively quick solution to years of distress with a full CBT course being completed in approximately 10 weeks. Although the cognitive model (how one’s thoughts influence one’s emotions and behaviours) appears straightforward, when done effectively a therapist can conceptualise the case, build rapport, educate the patient, identify the problems, collect data, test hypotheses, and summarise.
Individualised case conceptualisation lays the foundation for the course of CBT and is used as a map to guide therapy. It brings in several domains of assessment including symptoms and diagnosis, the patient’s strengths, formative experiences (including biopsychosocial aspects), contextual factors and cognitive factors that influence diagnosis and treatment, such as automatic thoughts or schemas. The case formulation leads to a working hypothesis about the optimal course and focus of CBT.
Collaborative empiricism is the way in which the patient and therapist work together to continually refine this working hypothesis.
Why Refer to Amanda
Amanda is one of the very few practitioners in Australia having completed formalised training in advanced CBT, having undertaken a full-time postgraduate diploma in the UK, making her a highly qualified and experienced practitioner. She is registered as a specialist OT in Mental Health and has undertaken further training in NLP and hypnotherapy.
Amanda has extensive experience both in the physical and mental health sectors, including hospital and community settings. As well as eating disorders, Amanda has a clinical interest in using CBT to treat depression, stress related illness and anxiety disorders, including panic disorders, OCD, GAD, and social anxiety.
Timely and concise reports will be provided to health professionals, with the consent of the patient, to keep you informed of the progress and outcomes of the therapy.
With her unique skills of advanced CBT, a strong background in Occupational Therapy and experience across many disciplines, Amanda is one of the leading clinicians in her area. Her results speak for themselves with a great many of her patients enjoying a more fulfilled and independent life.