Individual Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy

Cognitive-Behavioural therapy (CBT) is a form of psychological treatment that has been demonstrated to be effective for a range of conditions including anxiety disorders, OCD and related disorders, PTSD, depression, certain neuro-developmental disorders, elimination disorders, eating disorders, and others. Numerous research studies indicate that CBT leads to significant improvement in functioning and quality of life for individuals across the lifespan.  Advances in CBT ensure that treatment is evidence-based yet practical, offering the individual a host of useful skills to navigate routine life stressors and psychological conditions alike. Finally, these skills can be used to support neuro-diverse needs and to ensure neuro-affirming care is available across the life-span.

CBT boasts a variety of treatment and intervention options and Dr. Martinez has in-depth knowledge and skill in the provision of the following methods:

ACT:  Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, known as "act", is an action-oriented therapy that aims to develop and expand psychological flexibility via emotional openness and the ability to adapt one's thoughts and behaviors to better align with their values and goals.

CBIT: Comprehensive Behavioural Intervention for Tics is a three step individualized approach to helping individuals reduce motor and vocal tics. This approach combines awareness training with behavioural and environmental modifications to manage tics.

CPT: Cognitive Processing Theory is a specialized CBT approach to address symptoms of PTSD in individuals exposed to trauma.

DBT: Dialectical Behaviour Therapy helps individuals overcome interpersonal challenges by acquiring skills within 4 key domains: Mindfulness; Distress Tolerance; Interpersonal effectiveness; &, Emotion Regulation. 

ERP:  Exposure & Response Prevention is a behavioural treatment for OCD that encourages the individual to face their fears and let obsessive thoughts occur without ‘putting them right’ or ‘neutralising’ them with compulsions. 


Together, these forms of CBT differ from other psychological treatments by empahsizing:
  • Psychological problems can emerge or get maintained via unhelpful ways of thinking.
  • Psychological problems can emerge or get maintained via problematic, learned patterns of behaviour.
  • People struggling with psychological problems can learn effective ways to cope, enabling them to identify values and thrive
  • Treatment does not need to last years, but rather can be delivered in a concise and time-limited manner, at one or more intervals throughout the child’s developmental lifespan well into adulthood.
  • Treatment consists of effective, engaging and practical skills that can be directly applied to situations that occur in everyday life.

CBT treatment involves a combination of changes to feeling, thinking and doing.
​Skills learned in treatment can include:

​-Assertiveness Communication
​-Awareness Training
-Behavioural Activation
-Behavioural Experiments
-Cognitive Restructuring
-Cognitive Diffusion
-Emotion Regulation Skills
-Exposure and Ritual Prevention
-Exposure therapy
-Habit Reversal Training
-Helpful Self-talk
-Relaxation
-Mindfulness-based Techniques
​-Problem-solving
​-Social Skills Training
​-Token Economy Systems
-Values identification