Cognitive Behavioral Therapist Resume Example & Writing Guide
Use this Cognitive Behavioral Therapist resume example and guide to improve your career and write a powerful resume that will separate you from the competition.
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is an evidence-based form of psychotherapy that aims to identify and change patterns of thinking or behavior that are behind people’s mental health issues. And the therapists who provide CBT are known as CBT therapists or cognitive behavioral therapists.
CBT therapists help people identify the thoughts and feelings that are contributing to their problems, as well as teach them skills they can use to change their thinking patterns and behaviors. It’s an effective way to treat a wide range of mental health issues, including depression, anxiety, phobias, and more.
If you’re interested in pursuing a career as a cognitive behavioral therapist, it’s important to have a resume that showcases your skills and experience in a way that will catch hiring managers’ attention. Here are some tips and an example resume to help you write your own.
How to Write a Cognitive Behavioral Therapist Resume
Here’s how to write a resume of your own.
Write Compelling Bullet Points
When you’re writing bullet points, it can be tempting to simply list your responsibilities. But that’s not enough to make a strong impression. Instead, you should use your bullet points to demonstrate your value by describing how you contributed to the organization.
For example, rather than saying you “provided therapy services to clients,” you could say you “provided cognitive behavioral therapy to clients with anxiety disorders, helping them achieve a 50% reduction in symptoms after just six sessions.”
The second bullet point paints a much clearer picture of the type of work you do as a therapist and the results you’re able to achieve.
Identify and Include Relevant Keywords
When you apply for a job as a cognitive behavioral therapist, your resume is likely to be scanned by an applicant tracking system (ATS) for certain keywords. This system looks for terms related to the position, like “counseling” and “therapy” in order to determine whether your skills are a match for the job. If your resume doesn’t include enough of the right terms, your application might not make it past the initial screening process.
To increase your chances of getting an interview, use this list of common cognitive behavioral therapist keywords to add relevant terms to your resume.
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
- Psychotherapy
- Mental Health
- Mental Health Counseling
- Psychotherapy Integration
- Cognitive Behavioral Skills Training
- Motivational Interviewing
- Trauma Therapy
- Mindfulness
- Group Therapy
- Family Therapy
- Mental Health Promotion
- Exposure Therapy
- Counseling Psychology
- Individual Counseling
- Behavioral Psychology
- Personal Development
- Coaching
- Psychodynamic Therapy
- E-Counseling
- Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)
- Clinical Supervision
- Post Traumatic Stress
- Solution-Focused Brief Therapy
- Solution-Focused Therapy
- Group Counseling
- Social Work
- Working with Adolescents
- Play Therapy
Showcase Your Technical Skills
Cognitive behavioral therapists need to be proficient in a number of different software programs and systems in order to effectively do their jobs. This might include programs like Progression, CBT-E, and IAPT. Additionally, cognitive behavioral therapists need to be familiar with different types of therapy, such as cognitive behavioral therapy, exposure therapy, and dialectical behavior therapy.