Toronto’s mental health practice has been seeing increased demand for its cognitive behavioral therapy program, which it attributes to more people asking about the benefits of a structured, skills-based therapy approach.

Now, by increasing its CBT services in its mental health practice, the company hopes to reduce the number of people waiting for mental health treatment. Cognitive behavioral therapy assists a person in better understanding the relationship between thoughts, behavior, and feelings. Patients, rather than talking endlessly about their issues, learn methods and solutions through cognitive behavioral therapy that help them deal with difficulties and find practical fixes, including developing skills to deal with some challenges and modifying their bad sleep patterns.

People often show up feeling stuck in the same worry loop or the same habit they can't break," said a therapist on the clinic's CBT team. "CBT gives them something concrete to work with. Not just talking about the problem, but a plan for what to do differently this week.

Both adolescents and adults are welcome to take part in this program. Clients can experience issues like anxiety, depression, burnout, low self-worth, and trauma-triggered symptoms. Sessions are designed according to well-defined goals that are monitored and adjusted throughout the process, whereas the clients are instructed to practice the necessary skills after each session, since this is where real progress occurs.

Toronto's demand for CBT specifically, rather than open-ended talk therapy, has been rising. Clients increasingly ask for an approach with a plan and a way to measure progress, not just a place to process feelings.

The team includes registered psychologists, psychotherapists, and social workers with CBT training. New clients start with a consultation to figure out whether CBT is the right fit before treatment begins — not every concern responds best to this approach, and the clinic screens for that upfront.

A full breakdown of how CBT works, including the specific behavioral and cognitive strategies used and what a first session looks like, is available at thecohenclinic.com/cognitive-behavioural-therapy

About The Cohen Clinic

The Cohen Clinic is a Toronto-based mental health practice offering individual, couples, and family therapy alongside specialised assessments. Its team works across several evidence-based approaches, including CBT, DBT, and EMDR, and builds each treatment plan around the individual client rather than a fixed program.