Case studies: Cognitive behavioural therapist: Jane

Jane's current role involves working one day a week at a hospital psychotherapy unit providing cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) to individual clients.

Jane is a cognitive behavioural therapist employed by a large Primary Care Trust (PCT) in the Midlands.

My current role involves working one day a week at a hospital psychotherapy unit providing cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) to individual clients. This involves working with people with long-standing or complex mental health issues for one hour sessions. I also co-run a group for clients undertaking group therapy. My role in that group is to support the training of the counsellor in group treatment.

The rest of my week is spent working at the PCT, which provides first-line treatment to people with mental health issues. I provide clinical supervision to trainee CBT therapists in that trust. This involves group and individual supervision where they talk about their client work and receive training, guidance and support. I also provide some more formal training for them to supplement their training course, fill in gaps and increase their confidence and competence to practise CBT.

I originally trained as an occupational therapist and worked in mental health in that role for a short while. During my occupational therapy training I developed a particular interest in CBT when we were introduced to it as part of our training. Once employed in a mental health role, I sought out training days in CBT and used it to improve my work as an occupational therapist. I also used it when working in multidisciplinary teams where we were encouraged to work as key workers, and professional titles were seen as less useful than the therapeutic interventions available.

I was finally able to undertake formal training in CBT and obtained an MSc in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, which allowed me membership of the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP). I was then able to apply for CBT specialist posts and was successful in obtaining such a post.

Within my job I particularly enjoy the client contact and the supervision of therapists, as I enjoy interacting with people. I enjoy the active problem-solving approach of CBT and the collaborative therapeutic relationship that is fundamental. CBT is a challenging therapy for clients and therapists, but this is part of what makes it interesting. CBT can appear quite simplistic and easy to do but it can be used at many levels. There is a lot of theory, knowledge and skills to maintain.

I would advise anybody who is interested in a career in CBT to obtain as much information as possible about the therapy before making any decisions. Try talking to several CBT therapists as it is good to get a broad view, and some therapists work quite differently from others. It is also useful to read some of the self-help CBT guides that are available as these can give a good insight into the role of the therapist. It would also be useful to attend an introductory training day on CBT - these may be available in your local area.