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CBT Sessions

Structured therapy sessions.
Whenever you need them.

AI-guided cognitive behavioural therapy that walks you through real structured work — thought records, worry containment, pattern analysis, and values alignment. Not a chatbot. Not a worksheet. A live guided session that adapts to what you share.

Based on NICE-recommended CBT protocols — delivered dynamically through AI

Start free → See session types
5Session types
6Therapist styles
60Sessions/month
NICEProtocol aligned
What is CBT?

Cognitive behavioural therapy —
the gold standard for anxiety.

Why CBT works for anxiety

Anxiety is maintained by a cycle: a situation triggers an automatic thought, the thought produces an emotion, the emotion drives a behaviour (usually avoidance), and the behaviour confirms the thought. CBT breaks that cycle by targeting the automatic thought directly.

The NICE guidelines recommend CBT as the first-line psychological treatment for Generalised Anxiety Disorder, Panic Disorder, Social Anxiety, Health Anxiety, and OCD. It has the largest body of clinical evidence of any psychological therapy for anxiety.

What makes CBT effective is its structure. It is not just talking about how you feel — it is examining the specific thoughts that create the feeling, testing them against evidence, and building a more realistic response. The structure is what makes it teachable, repeatable, and measurable.

Stop The Loop delivers that structure through AI-guided sessions that adapt in real time to what you share — not a script, not a worksheet, a genuine interactive session.

The CBT cycle — and where we break it
1
Situation
Something happens — an event, a sensation, a thought
2
Automatic thought
"Something is wrong." "I cannot cope." "Everyone noticed." — this is where CBT intervenes
3
Emotion & physiology
Anxiety, dread, panic. Heart rate. Tight chest. The body responds to the thought
4
Behaviour
Avoidance. Reassurance-seeking. Checking. Each behaviour confirms the thought
5
Confirmation loop
The behaviour feeds back to strengthen the thought. The loop tightens over time
The evidence

CBT is the most researched psychological therapy that exists.

These are not marketing claims. These are results from clinical trials published in peer-reviewed journals.

50–60%
of people with GAD achieve full remission after a course of CBT, compared to 20% in control groups
NICE CG113 — Generalised Anxiety Disorder
80%
of panic disorder patients show significant improvement after 8–16 sessions of CBT with graded exposure
Clark et al., Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology
Equal
Digital CBT produces equivalent outcomes to face-to-face CBT for anxiety disorders across multiple randomised controlled trials
Hedman et al., PLOS ONE — dCBT meta-analysis

Stop The Loop is a self-guided CBT tool aligned with NICE-recommended protocols. It is not a replacement for professional psychological treatment. If you are experiencing severe anxiety or a mental health crisis, please speak to your GP or a qualified therapist. Read our full disclaimer.

Session types

Five types of session. You choose what to work on.

Every session is guided by your chosen assessor and adapts in real time to what you share. You do not need to know which technique you need — just pick the type of work and let the session guide you.

CBT — Core technique

Thought Record

Walk through a specific thought or situation that is bothering you. The assessor guides you through the classic five-step CBT thought record — one of the most evidence-based tools for breaking the anxiety cycle.

  • 1
    Identify the situation and automatic thought
  • 2
    Name the emotion and rate its intensity
  • 3
    Examine the evidence that supports the thought
  • 4
    Examine the evidence that challenges the thought
  • 5
    Build a balanced realistic response and re-rate
Approx. 10–15 minutes
CBT — Anxiety containment

Worry Time

Contain a specific worry into this session so it stops following you around for the rest of the day. Worry Time is a NICE-recommended CBT technique for GAD that breaks the habit of constant background worry.

  • 1
    Name the specific worry clearly
  • 2
    Assess whether it is actionable right now
  • 3
    If actionable: identify one concrete step
  • 4
    If not actionable: practise acceptance and schedule a check-in
  • 5
    Close the container — the worry has a home until then
Approx. 10 minutes
ACT — Values work

Values Check-in

Reconnect with what actually matters to you and identify where you feel most out of alignment. ACT values work shifts focus from anxiety management to values-based living — a sustainable route through anxiety.

  • 1
    Identify the life domains that matter most
  • 2
    Clarify what living well looks like in each domain
  • 3
    Rate current alignment in each area
  • 4
    Identify where the biggest gap is and what is causing it
  • 5
    Choose one committed action to close the gap this week
Approx. 15 minutes
CBT / ACT — Pattern awareness

Pattern Review

Explore what your recent mood data is telling you about your triggers and what your nervous system needs. Uses your actual mood history as the starting point for the session.

  • 1
    Describe the emotional tone of your recent days
  • 2
    Identify what was different on better days
  • 3
    Identify what preceded the harder days
  • 4
    Name the patterns and triggers together
  • 5
    Identify what your nervous system needs more of
Approx. 15 minutes
CBT / ACT — Open

Free Session

Open conversation with your assessor. No agenda, no fixed structure. Bring whatever is on your mind and let the session go where it needs to. Your assessor will draw on CBT and ACT techniques as appropriate to what you bring — exploring, challenging, and helping you gain clarity without a predefined path.

Any length
In the app

How a CBT session works.

1
Pick your session type
Choose from five session types on the session picker screen. Each type sets the structure the assessor will follow — you do not need to explain what you want to work on.
2
Choose your assessor
Six therapist personalities — from warm and maternal to direct and challenging. Your default assessor is remembered between sessions, but you can switch at any time.
3
The session adapts to you
Your assessor guides you through the session structure, reading what you share and adapting the questions in real time. Not a script. A genuine conversation.
4
End when you are ready
When the work feels done, end the session. The assessor closes it properly with a warm summary of what you covered.
5
Summary and homework saved
A two-sentence session summary and one specific homework task are generated and saved to your timeline. One small thing to try before the next session.

Your six assessors

Each assessor brings a distinct personality to the same structured work. Pick the style that fits how you need to be guided today.

M
Megan
Warm & practical
L
Lisa
Gentle & open
Cl
Claire
Calm authority
E
Ellis
Direct & honest
R
Rowan
Values-led
Ca
Callum
Somatic & slow
Case studies

CBT in practice. Real outcomes.

These are composite case studies based on common anxiety presentations and evidence-based treatment approaches. Names and details have been changed.

S
Sarah, 34
Marketing manager · Bristol
Health Anxiety

"I was Googling symptoms three hours a day. My GP said I was fine — I did not believe her."

How Sarah broke a four-year cycle of symptom-checking using CBT's Theory A vs Theory B and ACT defusion. She used the Thought Record session weekly to examine the evidence behind each new health fear.

12 wksRecovery
90%Less checking
3 hrs→10 minDaily Google time
M
Mark, 41
Operations director · London
GAD / Overthinking

"I would lie awake replaying every decision I had made that day, convinced I had missed something."

How Mark broke a decade-long rumination pattern using Worry Time sessions to contain the worry loop, and Pattern Review sessions to identify the work triggers that sustained it.

8 wksRecovery
6→1 hrDaily worry time
7 hrsSleep restored
J
James, 28
Software developer · Manchester
Panic Disorder

"My first panic attack was on the Tube. Within a month I could not get on a train."

How James combined emergency spiral mode for in-the-moment panic with weekly Thought Record sessions to challenge the catastrophic beliefs that were maintaining his avoidance of public transport.

16 wksRecovery
0Panic attacks/month
FullCommute restored
K
Kate, 38
Senior solicitor · London
Imposter Syndrome

"I was a partner at the firm and still convinced they would realise I did not belong."

How Kate used Values Check-in sessions to rebuild her professional identity from what she actually stood for — rather than the distorted self-image her imposter anxiety had constructed over twenty years.

12 wksRecovery
80%Less self-doubt
FirstPublic speaking
See all 12 case studies →
Techniques used

Every technique has a clinical evidence base.

Your assessor chooses the right technique for what you bring to the session. You do not need to know which one you need.

Thought record
The cornerstone of CBT. Identify the automatic thought, examine the evidence for and against it, and build a balanced realistic response. Reduces belief in catastrophic thoughts measurably over time.
CBT
Worry postponement
Schedule worry to a specific time and note worries as they arise rather than engaging with them immediately. Breaks the constant background worry habit that maintains GAD.
CBT
Cognitive defusion
Step back from thoughts rather than fighting them. "I am having the thought that..." creates distance between you and the thought. You are the observer, not the content.
ACT
Behavioural experiment
Test the anxious prediction directly. Write down what anxiety says will happen, do the thing anyway, and record what actually happened. The brain updates its threat assessment through experience, not reasoning.
CBT
Values clarification
Identify what genuinely matters across life domains and where your current life is misaligned. Shifts focus from anxiety management to values-directed living — a more sustainable approach than symptom reduction alone.
ACT
Pattern analysis
Examine mood data over time to identify triggers, cycles, and what your nervous system needs. Makes the unconscious pattern visible so it can be addressed directly rather than fought reactively.
CBT / ACT
Common questions

Everything you need to know about CBT sessions.

What is cognitive behavioural therapy?

+
Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is the most evidence-based psychological treatment for anxiety disorders. It works by identifying automatic negative thoughts, examining the evidence for and against them, and building more realistic responses. CBT also addresses behavioural patterns like avoidance that maintain anxiety over time. It is recommended by NICE as the first-line treatment for GAD, panic disorder, social anxiety, health anxiety, and OCD.

How many CBT sessions do I need?

+
Research suggests 8 to 16 structured CBT sessions are typically needed for significant improvement in anxiety disorders. Stop The Loop allows you to complete structured sessions at your own pace, as often as you need, within your monthly allowance. Most people find that two to three sessions per week during an active period produces the fastest results, followed by maintenance sessions as needed.

What is a thought record?

+
A CBT thought record walks you through five steps: identifying the triggering situation, naming the automatic thought, examining evidence that supports it, examining evidence that challenges it, and building a balanced realistic response. It is one of the most effective tools in CBT for breaking the anxiety cycle because it forces the brain to engage the prefrontal cortex — the reasoning, evidence-weighing part — rather than staying in reactive threat mode.

What is the difference between CBT and ACT?

+
CBT challenges automatic thoughts by examining the evidence for and against them. ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) teaches you to unhook from thoughts without necessarily challenging their content. CBT says the thought may be factually wrong. ACT says the thought does not have to control your behaviour regardless of whether it is true. Both are evidence-based and complementary — Stop The Loop uses both, with the assessor choosing the right approach for your situation.

Can CBT be done online or through an app?

+
Yes. Multiple clinical trials have shown that digital CBT (dCBT) produces equivalent outcomes to face-to-face CBT for anxiety disorders. The key is that the structure is preserved — guided, step-by-step sessions rather than passive reading or generic exercises. Stop The Loop delivers structured CBT sessions through AI-guided conversations that adapt to what you share in real time, preserving the therapeutic structure that makes CBT effective.

Is this a replacement for professional therapy?

+
No. Stop The Loop is a powerful self-guided tool built on evidence-based CBT and ACT techniques, but it is not a replacement for professional mental health care. If you are experiencing severe anxiety, depression, trauma, or any mental health crisis, please speak to your GP or a qualified therapist. Stop The Loop works best as a daily practice tool, in-the-moment crisis support, and a complement to professional treatment — not a replacement for it.
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Important: Stop The Loop is a self-guided CBT and ACT tool for anxiety management. It is not a medical device, diagnostic tool, or replacement for professional mental health treatment. The techniques described are based on evidence-based protocols but are delivered as self-guided tools, not clinical therapy. If you are experiencing a mental health crisis, please contact your GP, call NHS 111, or contact Samaritans on 116 123.