Cognitive behaviour therapy cbt is an effective treatment but there are gaps in current knowledge about cbt in the primary care context especially with regard to long term effects and the depression is common in primary care and most patients prefer psychological treatment over pharmacotherapy cognitive behaviour therapy cbt is an . Depression and anxiety are highly prevalent disorders causing substantial impairment in daily life cognitive behavioural therapy cbt delivered face to face or as self help has shown to be an effective treatment for these disorders such treatments may be suitable for delivery in primary health care. Cognitive behaviour therapy cbt is an effective treatment but there are gaps in current knowledge about cbt in the primary care context especially with regard to long term effects and the efficacy of specific delivery formats this is an obstacle to the integration of primary care and specialist psychiatry. Uses of cbt in primary care the majority of published research on the use of cbt in primary care has been in individuals with depression with improved outcomes demonstrated for both mild tomoderate1 and major depression2 when compared to usual care cbt is ideally suited to breaking the unhelpful thoughtsfeelings behaviours cycles associated with depression anxiety and related disorders such as ptsd and ocd