*** Please note. This book now contains a link inside that you can use to print out your own blank CBT worksheets ***
If you are a CBT therapist or a CBT therapist in training you are welcome to photocopy the worksheets in this book for your clients. I have made the paper colour and size ideal for photocopying. You can also photocopy any other part of this book, except for pages where there are cartoons.
I wrote this book because I found that many of my clients found it very difficult to remember topics discussed in their sessions. Over time, I found that using specifically tailored worksheets resulted in therapy becoming more streamlined and efficient. Everything included in this book is information that Dr Ridgeway and I use in the real world of clinical practice.
Chapters in the middle of this book have been written to assist you with the development of psychological formulations. The rule sheets, I have included are a rapid way of finding out what rules your clients hold. Once rules are identified it is then relatively easy to isolate beliefs and behaviours connected to them. This will lead to the development of longitudinal formulations which can be very helpful to you and your clients. This in turn will help you to write case studies and process reports.
I have written this book to be easy to read rather than to impress you with complex vocabulary. Where possible I have included explanations for anything that could be viewed as jargon. When I started work as an assistant psychologist — a psychologist in pre-training — I often attended clinical meetings where Clinical Psychologists and Psychiatrists discussed clients. Words such as formulation, negative reinforcement, sub-cortical response, and such like, went right over my head. It was like the clinicians were speaking a different language. Ideally, if you are just starting out in your clinical career this book will tell you most of the things that you need to know about depression at least.
We have used a metaphor of the Black Dog in this book as we have found as it is often an appealing way in to help clients accept their feelings.
