CBT therapy

Unfortunately not all these accredited therapists come up to scratch. I did see one who made things worse. My OH's behaviour during his illness became unacceptable and I had had to endure things that no wife should have to endure. The counsellor I saw was just simply shocked by what had happened and kept saying so - I did not need that - I was quite capable of being shocked all by myself. She ended the sessions because SHE could not deal with it - heaven knows what she thought I was supposed to do!

I had six months of group CBT years ago and it undoubtedly did help me deal with my panic attacks.

That is good to hear henetha - I think it can be very useful with such things as panic attacks.

Yes and life changing for me. Had massive paranoia type issues and issues with my Mum. Probably depends what your problems are.

Enidd

Has anyone had CBT therapy? Did it help?

I imagine the CBT is relative to the type of problem you have. In connection with chronic pain, I cannot see the reasoning - if you have chronic pain, say, caused by arthritis there is an ongoing physical reason for that pain. Being told your pain pathways to the brain are misfiring because the pain serves no useful purpose is crass (especially if the counselling is someone who has not experienced chronic pain)

I can't see how it would help with chronic pain either, and didn't realise it's used for such as that.

I had it years ago, prescribed by my GP and it took place at the surgery. It was to be 6 sessions but I only got 3 and then that Dr, and I have no idea what qualifications he had, just wasn't available for my sessions. It was for slimming, which I don't think anyone else here has mentioned. He made me list everything I ate and we discussed it and he said to cut some of it out. I did gain a lot of weight around then and had never been svelte. I went up to just under 19 stones and was 5'8. It didn't help and I then went to Slimming World, lost 3 stones and stopped as thought I'd do it alone, but began to gain and went to WW and lost the rest and got to goal. This was 2007, and I had to stop weighing in for various reasons, gained a stone and went back, was at goal in 2009 and have weighed in and been below goal every since. So CBT, if that was it, and they called it that, was useless for slimming. Maybe it was a trial. They didn't say so.

I was sent for CBT a couple of years ago, I was given a few sheets of A4 paper printed with boxes, and told to write down, every hour what I had done and how I felt... what a waste of time. Mostly all I could think of was 'wondering what to put in this box' and 'awful' .. when I took them back a week later the woman I saw got really angry with me (which did not help my mood) and asked me why I was crying. Needless to say I didn't go back.

My problems began with a brush with breast cancer and my memories of an awful childhood of neglect and sexual abuse. I will never ask for help again.

I can emphasise with that Shantygirl. I had a similar experience. I carried on for a bit longer, but I found it a waste of time - for me, at least.

They blame everything on your childhood nothing that has happened in your adult life gets mentioned at all. My daughter had made lots of dodgy decisions since she left home at 17 but they weren't even discussed. Everything was blamed on me and my husband. Some of the things they dragged up we hadn't even known about as she hadn't ever told us, so how could it be our fault. I was happy to help her deal with the things I was aware of even though her version of what happened was different to both her parents and her two sisters but stuff that happened that we were not aware of was not fair. It actually caused us more anguish than it solved.

I am having CBT at the moment.I am paying privately for this so I don’t have a specific timetable. If you are able to talk to a therapist and your need is not really serious then this could be for you. By not serious I mean, maybe like me anxiety or panic attacks.

To be honest MaggsMcG My limited experience of CBT was that the therapist didn't talk about childhood or the past. It was about looking at current problems in a different way. Are you sure your daughter had CBT and not some kind of psycho-analytic therapy? I wish we had discussed my childhood because my experiences then were at the root of many of my problems.

I had CBT in the 90s following complete stress related collapse. I found it made me think a lot about what I was doing and why. Didn't have to be major events, just ordinary daily living tasks eg doing the washing-up. I became very quick to anakyse a lot of what was going on in my life and the ones most or likely to cause anxiety. Therapist, senior occupational therapist was great. He made me write an account if events I found stressful, why, and what I did to overcome the anxiety. Think if I hadn't trusted him it would not have been effective. Weekly session for about 6 months and learned lifelong coping skills.

I had this online and typing replies! Didn't help.me at all really. You need the right therapist for counselling, someone you 'click' with.

I did it many years ago through the NHS. I didn't think it was very dynamic at all and it wasn't much use to me personally.

I think the type of therapy one needs very much depends on the issue/problem. Also the skill of the counsellor/therapist is really important and the relationship that builds ( or doesn't) .
As in all professions there are good and not so good.

Personally I would forget the NHS as they offer very little even if you can get an appointment before waiting years and perhaps look at going to someone privately. And if you do that ask the person how long they have been practicing , what training the have had, if they get professional supervision etc.

Yes, several times. Individual and group. It was only really the last group session that I felt really helped. We were all mature adults, prepared to be open and discuss things, and the therapists who took the course knew what they were talking about.
I have PTSD, Depression, Anxiety and Borderline Personality Disorder and had been on anti depressants most of my adult life. I also attended a regular Mindfulness session. With those two therapies combined, I no longer need the antidepressants and feel so much better for it. I sleep a regular 8 hours a night, have energy and enthusiasm I didn't have before. Was just saying to my OH today how much brighter the country side seems this spring, because I'm not looking at it through a drug fuelled haze.

Twice . In the 70s and the early noughties. In the 70s I was still at home with my parents. They were my best help. We talked and talked . The therapy sessions at the hospital were not much use and sometimes made things worse. In the early 2000s I was again referred but didn’t last the course. Tne therapist was nice enough but I found myself saying what I thought he wanted to hear. I don’t think it’s for me but others may benefit.

Not CBT (though I do know some people get a lot from it) but joining a support group is worth considering. For example:

www.depressionuk.org/how-we-can-help/find-a-group/

The NHS also runs support groups of various kinds.

Good luck - its brave and really worth it to reach out and a group can be a real help.

I have had it. It will do you no harm whatsoever.
It helps you to stop catastrophising or at least to help you realise that's what you are doing.
I don't think any psychological therapies "work", they can only take the edge of. But well worth doing.

Take the edge OFF.

Talking therapies probably saved my life - both in terms of the support, but also digging deep for some years, it was necessary for me to know the root causes, I did psychoanalytic psychotherapy on the NHS for 6 years.

I described different therapies some way upthread, and its a matter of the right therapy and the right therapist for you, if its needed at all.

Talking to family and friends can help a great deal if there is patience and sympathy, I'm not saying everyone has to go, just that is can do far more than "take the edge off"

Agree wyllow. The right therapy at the right time can be transformational, of course it takes hard work but what of value doesn’t Unfortunately the NHS can and does short change people therapeutically in some geographical areas. A very sad situation for both client and often frustrated practitioner.

I have had CBT. Its not the only type of therapy I have had. It works best as one of many different therapeutic types. Its not a cure for everything.

Cornergran is right in that its rare to find a lot more than CBT on the NHS currently: depends where you live.

this part of the MIND website is excellent in outlining different therapies and how they can help.

www.mind.org.uk/information-support/drugs-and-treatments/talking-therapy-and-counselling/about-talking-therapies/