Counsellors can use cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) interventions grounded in systems theory and its self-reinforcing feedback loops. Here, I discuss one such counselling intervention and how you could see it as a cognitive-behavioural intervention.
The cyclic intervention with client Zed
In the counselling session with Client Zed, an invented problem gambling client, I wrote keywords that he used on a whiteboard under three headings: (1) What he liked about gambling, (2) What he disliked about it, and (3) Other issues in his life. I saw a cycle linking what he had said:
I presented this cycle to him on the whiteboard, saying, “There seems to be a cycle at work here: (1) The more you gamble to feel respected during your winning streaks, (2) the more money you lose and the less respect you receive at home and work. (3) This increases your need for respect, which (4) throws you right back into gambling to feel respected. This vicious cycle could be driving your gambling.”
For Client Zed, seeing this cycle clearly presented on the whiteboard was a revelation. Rather than viewing himself as “crazy” or lacking willpower, he saw how his gambling was both providing respect and destroying respect.
The example counselling session page details this session.
Identify and challenge unhelpful thinking.
Cognitive behavioural therapy can assist clients by helping them identify and challenge unhelpful thoughts.
The counselling session helped challenge some of Zed’s unhelpful thoughts. He passionately believed that gambling brought him respect, so much so that he had it embossed on his belt. This was an unhelpful thought because it eclipsed the reality that his gambling undermined other people’s respect for him. The cyclic intervention effectively challenged this unhelpful thinking.
Clients see themselves in a more positive light.
CBT can also help clients by encouraging them to view themselves more positively and in a more balanced way.
The cyclic intervention enabled him to see himself in a more positive light, as trapped in a cycle of behaviour rather than as crazy.
Counsellors could use cyclic interventions like this, seeing them as cognitive interventions to:
- Identify and challenge unhelpful thinking
- Help clients to see themselves more positively
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First Loaded: 19 Dec 2025: Updated: 22 Dec 2025