While many textbooks explain the techniques of CBT, few fully explore the issues surrounding their application in real-life practice. This unique book comes to the rescue of anyone struggling with the challenges of practising CBT, whether you are a trainee working under supervision or a qualified practitioner. It examines key obstacles, issues and difficulties encountered over the course of the therapy, illustrated with extensive case examples. Learning objectives, practice exercises and further reading lists help you engage with and relate the issues to your own practice.

Acknowledging that people are more complex than just the presenting disorder, the authors consider questions around:

o Good practice in assessment and case formulation

o The challenge of diagnosis

o Key client issues, such as guilt and shame, perfectionism, and inability to tolerate storing feeling

o The therapeutic relationship

o Organisational factors.

This succinct and accessible guide throws a lifebelt to any CBT trainee or therapist struggling under the realities of today’s psychotherapy and counselling practice, particularly within NHS settings.