Compare CBT vs ACT vs DBT for Your Mental Health Goals

You are ready to try talking therapy and the acronyms are already off-putting. This compares CBT, ACT and DBT on what each is actually trying to change, the conditions each suits, how the sessions feel, and the evidence behind them. You approach a therapist knowing roughly what you are after rather than picking blind.

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You are exploring talking therapy options and want to understand the genuine differences between Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and Dialectical Behaviour Therapy before approaching a therapist.
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<task>
**Compare the three approaches across five dimensions:**
1. Core mechanism: what each therapy is actually trying to change and how it works at a psychological level
2. Evidence base: what conditions each approach has the strongest evidence for
3. What therapy sessions look like: the practical experience of working with each modality
4. Fit for different presentations: which approach tends to work best for anxiety, depression, trauma, emotional dysregulation, or chronic pain
5. Self-help applicability: the extent to which each approach can be practised independently outside therapy sessions
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- A comparison table across all five dimensions
- A recommendation based on the specific difficulties you are experiencing
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