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Cognitive Behavioural Therapy•For Professionals

Session Structure Guide

A guide to structuring CBT sessions effectively.

A guide to structuring CBT sessions effectively.

Session structure

Mood check and brief update (5 mins)
Bridge from last session (2 mins)
Agenda setting — collaborative (3 mins)
Homework review (10 mins)
Main agenda items (25 mins)
New homework setting — collaborative (5 mins)
Session summary and feedback (5 mins)

Key principles

Maintain collaborative empiricism throughout
Use guided discovery rather than lecturing
Capsule summaries to check understanding
Elicit feedback at the end of each session