How To Become a CBT Therapist

CBT therapists are similar to behavioral therapists, as they help people overcome destructive behaviors, but CBT therapists ultimately focus on thoughts and thought patterns (Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies). For example, a CBT therapist might help someone who consistently lashes out at work figure out which thought patterns are causing them to do so. A CBT therapist would then work with their client to change these thought patterns, so the client stops lashing out at work.

The process of becoming a CBT therapist is similar to the process of becoming a psychotherapist. First, one should earn their bachelor’s degree in psychology or a related field. Then, one can start earning their master’s degree in psychotherapy, as well as start accruing their hours of supervised clinical experience.

After earning their master’s degree, prospective CBT therapists have two options. According to CBTtherapist.com, they can either become accredited in psychotherapy and start offering CBT programs, or they can specifically become accredited in CBT therapy.

For example, in the United Kingdom, the first option might consist of getting licensed by the UKCP or the British Association for Counseling & Psychotherapy (BACP) as a general psychotherapist, while the second option would consist of earning psychotherapist accreditation and then getting specifically accredited as a CBT therapist by the British Association for Behavioural & Cognitive Therapy (BABCT) or the Association for Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (AREBT). BABCT requires 200 hours of supervised clinical experience on top of the 450 required for UKCP accreditation, to give you an idea.