Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) has its early origins in both behaviour therapy, which emerged in the 1950s, and cognitive therapy, which emerged in the 1960s. Behaviour therapists viewed neurotic illness as the product of faulty learning in response to environmental events. This gave rise to new treatment approaches, and great progress was made in the management of the anxiety disorders for instance, agoraphobia although attempts at treating depression by reducing reinforcing behaviours were less successful. CBT is based on the view that emotional disorders arise from faulty information processing. Patients receiving CBT are often suffering from anxiety problems or depressive illness; therapy of these disorders is described in this chapter. The principal focus of the chapter is short-term CBT with individual patients. The case examples discussed in the chapter illustrate the application of CBT with patients experiencing panic disorder and late-life depression. CBT is an active, focused psychological treatment with an increasing range of applications.