01/27/2026
The very first time I taught CBT Skills for Distressing Physical Symptoms, it received glowing reviews… except for one.
One participant shared that while it was “interesting,” they were hoping for a simpler and quicker step by step process to change their client’s thinking.
I remember feeling deflated. Perhaps I hadn’t done a good enough job emphasizing this one key truth:
👉 CBT doesn’t work that way.
When we use CBT tools to control, fix, or correct, we hit a wall — and risk causing harm.
CBT-informed work must stay grounded in collaborative empiricism — a stance where the client is in the driver’s seat and the clinician’s role is to create space for curiosity.
We’re not there to prove or disprove, or prescribe lines of thinking, but to wonder together about how thoughts function, feel, and influence behaviour.
That point hit home for most of my participants, but nevertheless that feedback has helped me to reshape HOW I teach this content over time — making this point front and centre and explicitly talking about how and why we, as clinicians, get hooked by the pressure to fix.
✨ The newly updated self-paced version of CBT Skills for Distressing Physical Symptoms is now available — with lifetime access.
Gain a plethora of options for supporting your clients with thinking about their thinking and shifting their behaviour!
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