Moya CBT

26/07/2025

PLOT TWIST! So the course was cancelled last minute. So I guess I need to pivot from student to tourist now 😵😆

www.moyacbt.co.uk

25/07/2025

Arrived in London for a weekend course on neuroanatomy at Kings College London by Dr Johns himself! Part lectures and part practicals in the dissection rooms! I’m sooooo excited!!! Got my little brain model companion and in the van so I’m very excited!! 😜 🧠🙌

www.moyacbt.co.uk

24/07/2025

Reminded of one of my favourite creative methods tonight! Even discussing it made us both smile!!

www.moyacbt.co.uk

17/07/2025

MOYA CBT CYCLE OF EMOTIONAL DISTRESS (developed in 2024)

Just wanted to remind you of a formulation I developed to explain emotional avoidance in its many guises. I originally produced it in relation to my personal experience of ADHD to explain rejection sensitivity and how this maintains emotional dysregulation. And then found that not only did it resonate with people with ADHD, but many others who fear feeling and expressing emotions.

I theorise that emotional avoidance is a fear of feeling and expressing emotions based on an underlying fear of rejection. So a calm or neutral state is experienced as 'safe' and/or 'being good' which gives it a value rating. This means that when emotions (any) start to surface they will be experienced as threatening.

The response is likely to be masking which leads to further distress and overwhelm. At this point it is easy to dissociate or express emotions in an impulsive manner such as screaming or snapping at people. All of which further reinforces how 'dangerous' emotions are.

If we do not know what our needs are it is impossible to express them so peoples' reactions are likely to collude with the fear of rejection which leads to shame and strengthening of the negative beliefs about self and emotions.

With ADHD, and many other presentations, self control is such a central and defining feature that the cycle is constantly in motion. We can help the person recognise this cycle and can intercept it at different junctures. In fact, every time I share it and someone says 'that totally explains how I feel' it makes me feel a little bit more acceptable, as I know I am not alone in feeling strong emotions and practicing self-compassion is another route into working with this type of distress.

Here is a link to a handout with the cycle and some examples:https://www.moyacbt.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Moya-CBT-cycle-of-emotional-distress.pdf

I keep meaning to write this up, but do feel free to use it.

www.moyacbt.co.uk

11/07/2025

Remembering my lovely special dad who left us 8 years ago today. The loss hit like a ton of bricks and resulted in 8 months off sick. He was my biggest fan (along with mum) and accepted me no matter what I got up to or messes I made! 100% unconditional love and acceptance!

Roses were his favourite flowers and this one comes up every year at this time ❤

www.moyacbt.co.uk

10/07/2025

If you couldn't make the live training yesterday you can still purchase the recording and materials to watch on demand.

Just use the same link and I will send you a link to the recording and materials for your personal use.

www.moyacbt.co.uk

05/07/2025

Doing a bit of pre-training study for my neuroanatomy weekend at the end of this month. I’m combining work, rest and play this weekend! 😀

www.moyacbt.co.uk

05/07/2025

It's fast approaching! The CBT & ADHD: considerations and adaptations is relevant to a wide audience. If you work with people with ADHD, are a practitioner with lived experience, or even just want to know more about it and how to support someone people to manage daily life using CBT then the session will be of benefit.

Feedback has consistently been positive with main comments stating how accessible it is and how clinical information is blended with lived experience in a helpful way.

I appreciate it is a 6 hour session requiring time off work so I record sessions for convenience. Numbers are usually low at this time probably due to financial demands but I do believe that this is good value for money compared to some other courses I have sampled. The other reason is that I am not great at promoting my events, so if you know anyone or any organisation who may be interested please SHARE.

Thank you 😊

www.moyacbt.co.uk

04/07/2025

Back on festival duty! Just a day event this time at Powderham Castle (which is actually a very long way from the Midlands! 😀). Normally about three and a half hours but took me 5 today!

We all finish in time for Basement Jaxx 😍

www.moyacbt.co.uk

02/07/2025

Thank you so much to the people who attended the CBT formulation masterclass this evening. I know it’s not easy to do a 3 hour evening session after a day at work! Your attentiveness and interaction kept me going through the heat! It’s always a two way street for me as I enjoy hearing about peoples’ experiences. It was a really enjoyable evening 😍

CBT & ADHD 6 hour session next Wednesday 9th July (9.30am to 4pm). Incredibly one of the attendees tonight is attending that one too! I am really grateful for the support.

www.moyacbt.co.uk

01/07/2025

26/06/2025

I am so grateful for one of my past supervisors who provided a portal into self compassion through experiential learning. We worked through some of the exercises we give clients and this was so powerful.

He made me realise that even the seemingly small actions or reactions can be viewed as responses to the ongoing self critical voice. For example, the idea of 'punishing' ourselves for not having the outcome in a session we had expected or hoped for may manifest in denying ourself a fresh coffee as a form of punishment.

Also, he made me realise that every minute I go over session time with a client is me giving more of myself which is also a sign of a lack of self compassion (not always of course if you are in the middle of something and need a little extra time to complete it). The lack of boundaries here keep the threat and drive systems spinning with very little, if any, self soothing. In fact we may still end this overrun session with the self critical voice ringing in our ears and even punish ourself which provides a double blow.

So now I am much more aware of these signs and have developed a much better relationship with myself where I use self compassionate imagery to metaphorically have my own back!

This work continued into my own personal therapy so I have been 'practicing' or integrating this approach to self for a long time now. It is the single most important thread to hang onto even in the most challenging times.

The reason I am sharing this now is that I had a lovely session just now with a client where we explored compassionate imagery. I could see his posture physically change when he described an image of his adult self with his swagger saying to his inner vulnerable child "I've got you bro"! It was viscerally pleasing and reinforced my own experiences.

www.moyacbt.co.uk