If you spend any time in counsellor Facebook groups, you'll keep seeing the same question pop up. "Where can I learn CBT?" or "Any CBT CPD you recommend?" or "I want to add CBT to my practice—where do I start?"
That question makes total sense. Most counsellors aren't looking to collect certificates for fun. They're looking for something practical that improves client work.
But here's the problem I see again and again in private practice. People buy CBT CPD, they learn loads, and they still feel unsure in sessions. Not because CBT doesn't work. But because a lot of CBT CPD teaches knowledge, not execution. And private practice is an execution environment.
The Missing Piece After CBT CPD: Knowing vs Doing
CBT CPD often teaches things like what CBT is, cognitive distortions, core beliefs, formulation models, the evidence base, and why certain techniques work. All useful stuff.
But when you're in the room with a real client, the struggle is usually something else. How do I structure this session so it doesn't drift? What intervention do I pick first? How do I stop getting pulled into reassurance? What do I do when homework isn't done? What do I do when a client says "I don't know"? How do I turn formulation into a plan?
Those are not theory questions. Those are in-the-room questions.
So the counsellor ends up with a familiar experience. They understand CBT more, but still don't feel confident using it consistently.
Why CBT Can Feel Like It "Doesn't Work" in Private Practice
Private practice is different from training examples. Real-world issues include mixed caseloads where nobody fits one neat diagnosis. Clients who want relief but fear change. Avoidance that looks like overthinking. Reassurance-seeking that feels like the client just needs comfort. And low time for prep because you're seeing back-to-back sessions.
If your training doesn't address those realities, you can end up doing CBT-shaped talking rather than CBT-shaped change. And that's when CBT gets blamed.
The Shift That Makes CBT Usable: "CBT-in-the-Room" Beats "CBT-on-Paper"
Here's the most helpful reframe if you're shopping for CBT CPD. There are two kinds of CBT learning. The first is CBT as information, where you're learning concepts. The second is CBT as a workflow, where you're learning how to run sessions.
Most counsellors already have enough information to start. What they lack is a workflow that tells them what to do next, reduces decision fatigue, gives them default responses when sessions go off track, and makes homework and follow-through realistic.
In other words, what makes CBT work in private practice is not having more techniques. It's having a structure that makes techniques easier to apply.
The 15-Minute Test (This Will Tell You What Kind of CPD You Need)
Before your next session, try this. In 15 minutes, can you answer these five questions? What's the main maintaining pattern today—is it avoidance, reassurance seeking, rumination, low activity, or safety behaviours? What is the one target for this session, not five targets but one? What is the one intervention you will run—a behavioural experiment, an exposure step, a behavioural activation step, some problem-solving, or a cognitive technique? What is the one between-session practice step that's small, scheduled, and barrier-proof? And how will you review progress next time through a measure, behaviour change, or learning point?
If your honest answer is "not consistently," that doesn't mean you're not capable. It usually means you don't have enough practical scaffolding. That's not a motivation issue. It's a system issue.
A Simple CBT-Informed Session Structure That Works for Integrative Counsellors
If you want something you can use tomorrow, here's a structure that keeps things practical while still feeling relational. I call it the six-part session, and it works for mixed caseloads.
Start with a check-in that takes two to five minutes. What's happened, maybe a quick rating if that's helpful. Then set an agenda with two items maximum, taking about two minutes. Ask "What would make today useful by the end?" Then bridge to the pattern in about two minutes. "When X happens, you do Y, which leads to Z." Spend twenty to twenty-five minutes doing one intervention or practice, something active rather than just discussion. Then spend five minutes on one practice step for homework, making it small, scheduled, and realistic. End with a summary and feedback that takes about two minutes. "What are you taking away?" and "What was helpful today?"
This isn't manualised CBT. It's a structure that makes CBT doable inside an integrative style.
The Part Most CPDs Don't Teach: What to Do When It Goes Off Track
This is where counsellors get stuck and lose confidence. When the client wants reassurance. When they avoid the task. When homework doesn't get done. When rumination spirals in the session. When they say "I don't know." When there's silence. When strong emotion derails the structure.
A good private practice CBT approach has built-in answers for those moments. A script to redirect gently. A small next step to keep momentum. A way to reduce safety behaviours without confrontation. A method to shrink homework until it becomes doable.
Because those moments aren't rare. They're predictable.
So What Should You Look For When Shopping for CBT CPD?
Here's a simple buyer's filter. Choose training or resources that give you a session structure you can follow, decision support that answers "what do I do next," scripts for stuck moments, templates for agenda setting and homework and formulation-to-plan work, and tools you can use weekly with a mixed caseload.
If it only gives you concepts, you'll likely feel inspired but not necessarily more effective in-session.
A Practical Next Step You Can Try This Week
Pick one suitable client and test this minimum effective CBT approach. Set a two-item agenda. Identify one maintaining pattern. Do one active intervention. Set one tiny homework step where their confidence is at least seven out of ten. End with summary and feedback.
That alone can make sessions feel more purposeful immediately.
Want a Genuinely Useful Free Resource?
If you'd like, I can share a free 15-minute pre-session checklist plus a CBT session agenda template that's printable to make the structure above easy to implement.
(Insert your link here: "Download the free checklist + agenda template.")