What is CBT-Hear?
CBT-Hear is a comprehensive, multi-stage training and certification programme designed to equip clinicians with the specialist skills needed to deliver Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) for tinnitus, hyperacusis, and misophonia. It is both a clinical framework and a professional development pathway, grounded in evidence-based care, ethical practice, and interdisciplinary collaboration.
Is CBT-Hear Accredited or Certified?
CBT-Hear is a certified training programme, not an accredited one. This distinction is important to understand, as there are currently no accredited courses worldwide for CBT specifically applied to tinnitus and sound intolerance (hyperacusis and misophonia).
Accredited Courses
Accredited courses are those formally recognised by an external educational or professional body. Accreditation ensures that a programme meets pre-set academic or industry-wide standards and is regularly reviewed to maintain those standards. Accredited courses usually provide qualifications that can be used for progression into higher education or regulated professional practice.
Certified Courses
Certified courses, such as CBT-Hear, are designed to provide specialist, skill-based training that equips professionals with the practical knowledge needed to apply CBT methods in their area of work. A certified course does not go through a national accreditation framework, but it does offer a recognised certificate of completion that demonstrates proficiency and commitment to specialist professional development.
Why CBT-Hear Is Certified
- No accredited route exists: At present, there is no accredited training pathway for CBT for tinnitus and sound intolerance.
- Expert-led development: CBT-Hear has been developed by internationally recognised clinicians and researchers in tinnitus, hyperacusis, and misophonia care.
- Practical professional value: The certification enables audiologists and related professionals to demonstrate advanced skills in applying CBT within their clinical practice.
- Structured standards: While not bound to an external accrediting body, CBT-Hear has its own clear structure, clinical supervision requirements, and progression pathways to ensure quality and accountability.
In short, accreditation in this field simply does not exist yet. By offering certification, CBT-Hear fills this gap with a rigorous, clinically relevant programme that supports professional excellence and improves patient care.
Why CBT-Hear Was Developed
CBT-Hear was developed by Dr Hashir Aazh over two decades of specialist clinical work and collaborative research across disciplines, including audiology, clinical psychology, neurophysiology, otolaryngology, psychotherapy, occupational therapy, and philosophy. The programme addresses a critical training gap by integrating psychological and audiological care for individuals with sound-related distress.
Who is it for?
CBT-Hear is open to professionals with qualifications at BSc, MSc, or doctorate level (or equivalent) in relevant disciplines. It welcomes:
- Audiologists
- Psychologists
- Hearing therapists
- Hearing aid dispensers
- Psychiatrists
- Otologists
- Speech and language therapists
- Occupational therapists
- Nurses
- Social workers
- Teachers of the deaf
- General medical practitioners
- Other allied health and social care professionals
What Makes CBT-Hear Unique?
- Integrates CBT with audiological expertise
- Focuses on the person, not just the symptom
- Structured into three clinical pillars: assessment, education & holistic support, and targeted CBT
- Offers a stepped-care model aligned with ethical and multidisciplinary standards
- Backed by peer-reviewed research and clinical guidelines
Core Clinical Pillars of CBT-Hear
- Assessment: Comprehensive assessment is the foundation of CBT-Hear. It includes audiological testing, screening for comorbidities, differential formulation, and outcome measurement. This ensures tailored care and appropriate referral when necessary.
- Patient Education and Holistic Support: Education empowers patients through psychologically informed explanations of their symptoms and practical coping tools. Holistic strategies include breathwork, relaxation techniques, somatic care, and interdisciplinary collaboration.
- Targeted CBT: CBT-Hear provides focused interventions for tinnitus, hyperacusis, and misophonia-related distress. It equips clinicians to differentiate primary tinnitus/sound-related distress from underlying mental health conditions and to apply CBT-Hear to the former, and facilitate psychiatric or psychological interventions within a multidisciplinary team for the latter.
CBT-Hear Training Pathway
Stage 1: CBT-Hear Certified Preparatory & Update Stage – Optional for Progression): 18 hours of structured training. Focus on assessment, counselling, multidisciplinary management strategies, patient education, and foundational CBT principles.
Stage 2: CBT-Hear Certified Practitioner (Intermediate): 135 hours of advanced training + 27 hours of supervised practice. Enables full CBT-Hear intervention for patients without significant psychological comorbidity.
Stage 3: CBT-Hear Certified Advanced Clinician (Advanced): 66 hours of case reflection + 27 additional supervision hours. Develops skills to distinguish primary auditory distress from psychological comorbidity and work within multidisciplinary teams.
Supervisor and Fellowship Pathway: Graduates of Stage 3 may become CBT-Hear Certified Supervisors through additional training. Fellowship titles (Clinical Fellow, Faculty Fellow, Honorary Fellow) recognise leadership, innovation, and impact.
Clinical Supervision Requirement
From Stage 2 onwards, clinicians must maintain CBT-Hear registration and commit to a minimum of 90 minutes of clinical supervision per calendar month. This requirement supports ethical practice, patient safety, and reflective learning. Stage 1 participants may join the CBT-Hear Register at no cost by agreeing to the Code of Ethics, but monthly supervision and full registration only apply once clinicians begin practising CBT-Hear interventions.