Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is an established psychological therapy that helps people to think differently. Cognitive therapies have been used for many years in clinical settings for people with distressing tinnitus.

It's not as simple as just thinking more positively or trying to ignore tinnitus. Anyone with tinnitus knows that doesn’t work.

Your thoughts have an influence over how you feel and behave. For example, if you’re stuck in traffic and running late it’s easy to worry and become frustrated, even though there’s nothing you can do. If you were to take a breath and think, ‘There’s nothing I can do but wait’, what would change?

Changing your mindset and thinking patterns will give you the tools to cope better with tinnitus noise. We call this neuroplasticity, where you teach the brain new thought patterns. Brains are constantly learning and establishing new neural pathways. With cognitive therapies like CBT, you are consciously forging new, more helpful, networks and thought patterns.

Let’s think about how the brain perceives tinnitus.

It doesn't know where the sound is coming from so it is ‘on-alert’. The primal part of your brain is programmed to pay attention to danger or important sounds, like a baby crying, or a siren, or a sabre tooth tiger sat in the bush. This ‘on-alert’ system pushes adrenaline and other biochemicals through your body in case you need to run or fight. Until the brain learns that the tinnitus noise is not the sound of something dangerous or harmful, your body will continue to produce this ‘on-alert’ effect. That is what makes hearing tinnitus so stressful and intrusive in your day to day life. And that is what CBT can help you change.

CBT begins by becoming aware of how you respond to your tinnitus noise. It requires you to be honest and thoughtful.

Think about what happens when you hear your tinnitus. How do you respond? What do you do to feel better? Do your strategies work?

We will think about what helps you cope and what doesn't and then you will choose what works and build on it.

Thinking about life in a more positive way is not easy when you have tinnitus. It is often distressing and hard to manage, but, with our support, you can learn techniques that have been demonstrated to make a difference.

You’ll find CBT techniques are helpful in every part of life. With practice and effort, they will help you cope with tinnitus.