Good CBT treatment starts with a strong feeling of alliance between you and your therapist. From there you move on to understand your thought processes. Then you apply this understanding to real life behaviours and situations. When therapy ends, you are able to use the things you have learned independently in your daily life. You should be able to identify all these four stages in your therapy, even if they are a bit mixed up.

If you feel that your CBT therapist has left out one of the stages, then you should discuss this with your therapist. It might be that your therapy has taken an unusual course for some reason. CBT is not a rigid process. It does not fit exactly the same pattern for every patient.

Even if you are not able to address one of the stages with your particular therapist, your therapy might still be useful. But you might also want to consider finding a new therapist.

In addition to the four stages, good CBT treatment should take place in an appropriate professional context. Use the links on this site to find the professonal organizations for CBT therapists in your country. These organizations publish guidelines and maintain standards.