CBT therapy

[GiggleBee]

Has anyone had this for anxiety and found it to work? Ive had it a few times, one for a phobia and it worked really well but the other 2 times have just been for general anxiety and although I didnt complete either course I didnt find it helpful.

I cant change my way of thinking, if Im anxious about something but I don't know what it im anxious about how am I meant to change the thoughts?

Anyway would love to hear others stories positive or negative about CBT therapy.

 

[Gossipingginger]

I had CBT on the NHS for around 5 months for anxiety and depression. I found it really helpful and my therapist was lovely. I thought i would struggle opening up to someone but surprised myself. I had the sessions over the phone for around an hour one day a week. I would definitely recommend it. I didnt have to wait long on the NHS either. Its not a magic wand though and I do still struggle some days but nowhere near as much as I was. It is something you do really need to stick at though it was tough. Some sessions were tough and I cried on several of them. Over all I would 100% recommend it.

 

[BelleAmie]

I had CBT with IAPT for nearly a year, on and off, for anxiety and OCD. I started off with 5 sessions with a general PWP but we really didn’t see eye to eye and it was an utter waste of time.
I then had 14 sessions with a High Intensity Therapist who was lovely and really understood what my issues were. I’m not saying that therapists of different ages/genders/backgrounds can’t be effective but as this therapist was a similar age to me, I felt she was able relate to what I was worried about and what I would talk about.
I think I would have improved had there been more sessions, I found it very emotional/difficult to verbalise what was in my head and we’d only really started getting to the root of my issues by the time my sessions were due to end.
Given the opportunity, I would absolutely go back again because of you get a decent therapist, it can really start to make a difference and sometimes you don’t always get that the first - or second - time round.
Hope it all goes well for you!

 

[mermaidexoxo]

I had 2 sessions for anxiety. The first session the nurse asked me about how I was feeling, why I was feeling that way etc, etc. Then printed out a piece of paper called the “worry tree” and to write down all my worries.

The second session she printed out the same “worry tree” and told me to write my worries on it again. Then printed out an anxiety leaflet and told me to read it at home.

She booked me in for a third session a month later, but I had started a new job which was 9-5 and she didn’t work around those hours and said she had no alternatives. This was the NHS.

I found it pointless and just got even more anxious and depressed from the experience. Don’t get me wrong, I think the NHS is amazing but mental health services are so underfunded and unaccessible.

I’m going to go back to my GP and ask for anti anxiety medication or some sleeping tablets as my anxiety causes insomnia due to relentless worrying.

 

[Ohflogoff]

Generally, experiences from Childhood can trigger anxiety as adults. CBT can work really well for phobias etc, but a longer term therapy that explores early childhood experiences can also be very (maybe more) beneficial.

there’s obviously many arguments for and against, but my experience and opinion is that talking therapy worked well for me.

 

[GiggleBee]

I had 2 sessions for anxiety. The first session the nurse asked me about how I was feeling, why I was feeling that way etc, etc. Then printed out a piece of paper called the “worry tree” and to write down all my worries.

The second session she printed out the same “worry tree” and told me to write my worries on it again. Then printed out an anxiety leaflet and told me to read it at home.

She booked me in for a third session a month later, but I had started a new job which was 9-5 and she didn’t work around those hours and said she had no alternatives. This was the NHS.

I found it pointless and just got even more anxious and depressed from the experience. Don’t get me wrong, I think the NHS is amazing but mental health services are so underfunded and unaccessible.

I’m going to go back to my GP and ask for anti anxiety medication or some sleeping tablets as my anxiety causes insomnia due to relentless worrying.

That 'love' is more like a massive hug! I know exactly how you feel. I got 'the circle' on my previous sessions and changing the thought process.

Generally, experiences from Childhood can trigger anxiety as adults. CBT can work really well for phobias etc, but a longer term therapy that explores early childhood experiences can also be very (maybe more) beneficial.

there’s obviously many arguments for and against, but my experience and opinion is that talking therapy worked well for me.

I want a talking therapy, someone I can just chat to who can understand why I am like I am but it seems that isnt avalible on the NHS

 

[blackmasque]

That 'love' is more like a massive hug! I know exactly how you feel. I got 'the circle' on my previous sessions and changing the thought process.



I want a talking therapy, someone I can just chat to who can understand why I am like I am but it seems that isnt avalible on the NHS

I've tried CBT and DBT in the past. Tried really hard to make them work but neither were helpful or made much difference. (EMDR was so traumatic it made me suicidal.) I've just started with new therapist and so far it's just been talk therapy which is going well and what I need atm. I live in the US so I don't know how the nhs works. I hope you can find something helpful soon.

 

[LennyBriscoe]

That 'love' is more like a massive hug! I know exactly how you feel. I got 'the circle' on my previous sessions and changing the thought process.



I want a talking therapy, someone I can just chat to who can understand why I am like I am but it seems that isnt avalible on the NHS

I’m the same as you, I think I would benefit from talking therapy. I did a lengthy course of CBT, on the NHS and because of COVID, 80% of it was on the phone. I didn’t think it would work but I thought that if I didn’t accept it, they wouldn’t help me any more in any way.

I understand the concept but I was trying to explain that I feel like I’m jinxed and things do keep going wrong so it’s not just negative thinking.

The two things that stick out for me are “it’s like a well worn farm track, there’s a deep groove in the mud and it will take time to make a new track” (I explained I was feeling quite hopeless and I don’t have time) and “think of a train station, you can see the train coming but it’s really a negative thought. You don’t have to get on that train and run with the thought”. I do still try and think of this one to be fair.

It just wasn’t for me sadly, and talk therapy isn’t available on the NHS as you say.

 

[Tttanya]

I’ve had CBT in the past and I didn’t resonate with what they’re trying to teach. A lot of it is focused on how to train your thoughts and what you can do to help yourself, and at the time, that’s not what I needed.
It didn’t help the woman was completely useless. She told me to write down how I felt every week and she’d review it and respond, but her responses were few and far between... when I did get a response, it felt copy and pasted. No personalisation to it.
I feel like GPs will tend to fob people off onto cbt because it’s easier and quicker than getting someone actual therapy.

 

[Ohflogoff]

CBT is a short piece of work and therefore cheaper. A therapist, who you can build a relationship with and take your time exploring painful experiences is less cost effective for them. You may be able to get a subsidised rate if you look on the counselling directory.

(cheaper - not cheapening the work, but more cost effective for the NHS)

 

[Lollypad]

I had two courses of CBT for panic attacks and anxiety.
1 in 2015 having been on waiting lists for about two years. Didn’t really rate my therapist, he looked like he wanted to cry whenever I talked about something traumatic. It worked in the short term but I didn’t really carry many of the learnings forward.
had a second course last year after 10 months on a waiting list and loved my therapist. She made everything make sense, we got to the root bad thought in the first session and went from there. Cried in most sessions and to be honest I’d leave after an hour feeling like my skin had been ripped off and my nerves were on fire, like a really really hard massage that leaves you so sore but ultimately does the world of good.
Both were on the NHS but just two different experiences. A year on I’m still using a lot of what I was taught and the worksheets etc.

 

[Gym&Tonic]

I had CBT via the NHS about eight years ago and it really helped me. The therapist I saw was excellent and yes, if you are prepared to put the work in it can totally change the way you think. When you have anxiety you get into a vicious circle of negative thoughts and CBT can help you deal with that by making you think of all the different outcomes. It doesn’t work for everyone, but it did work for me.

 

[OnlyHereForTheLolz]

CBT does not work for me at all. I found counelling worked really well for me. It was with a very warm lady that was non-threatening and non-judgemental.
I mentioned in another thread that I have just started counselling again for the first time in a couple of years and she suggested we try edmr and hypno-therapy along with counselling.

 

[Imonlyme]

I had CBT therapy 14 years ago for panic attacks. I was having panic attacks every day, multiple times a day and they would last for longer than the ' expected 20 minutes' my sessions were through the NHS, and after 6 months of weekly or so sessions, they did help and there was a significant difference in me, as well as the way I was able to manage the attacks. In fact, the sessions worked so well that I was able to finally leave a physically and mentally abusive relationship.
Then in 2015, I felt life was beginning to overwhelm me again, this time I wasn't having panic attacks, it was more I just didn't feel I was coping with the huge amount of stress I was under. I was at college at the time and they set me up with counselling, and for a while I thought it was working to the point it made me see I had allowed myself to fall into another mentally and emotionally abusive relationship. The talk therapy worked for a while but then it all got a bit too much having to constantly rake back over tough times and I left.
Since that counselling in 2015 I still haven't felt right, or improved, in fact, things got so much worse. Last year, I discovered online therapy with certified therapists, some of whom also work for NHS too. I filled in the online form, giving details about myself and what I was feeling and within hours they had me paired with a lovely therapist and my first session was set up.
It only took 1 session with my new therapist for her to diagnose me with PTSD. Something that is now clear to me that I've been struggling with for many years. I pay for these sessions, so means I only have 1 per month because that's all I can manage right now, but they have helped a lot. We do a mixture of talk therapy and CBT and I have seen progress within myself.
Therapy takes time, and if you're willing to see it through, assuming you gel with your therapist, then it can work. That's just my opinion.

 

[no-no]

The common denominator in all this is the therapist. They could be practicing gobbledegook but if they’re someone you connect with you’ll find some benefit. I once had hypnotherapy for something unrelated to mental health, I don’t believe in it but it was actually really helpful as the therapist showed a genuine interest.

I’ve underwent and been offered CBT numerous times, even studied it at post-grad (and wrote a scathing essay on it). To me, they treat it as a cheap panacea and it ticks a box. You might strike it lucky and get a therapist who you connect with, but odds are you’ll end up with one like the last one I had who treated every session like a yelp review and only wanted you to agree you weren’t going to do anything that would bring their safeguarding into question (if you catch my drift). The last therapist was appalling, never asked how i was or veered from her survey questions, if your answer wasn’t a number from 1-6 or whatever it was she was not interested. I’ve had more compassion from Amazon customer reps.

A lot of people just want something one-up from the Samaritans, someone they can sound off to but who can also offer some practical solutions or provide reassurance not just listening But that costs more money than completing surveys and doing homework, then effectively blaming the person if the “exposure therapy” doesn’t work. I’m on a 10 month waiting list for more “intense CBT” now (whatever that is! Answer 1-10 this time?) as the last lot was useless but they wouldn’t discharge.

 

[Rolypolymmm]

Has anyone tried Havening? I found it great to help me heal a few issues from my childhood that were still affecting me.

I'm not sure how I'd explain it so probably best to Google it

 

[Lollypad]

The common denominator in all this is the therapist. They could be practicing gobbledegook but if they’re someone you connect with you’ll find some benefit. I once had hypnotherapy for something unrelated to mental health, I don’t believe in it but it was actually really helpful as the therapist showed a genuine interest.

I’ve underwent and been offered CBT numerous times, even studied it at post-grad (and wrote a scathing essay on it). To me, they treat it as a cheap panacea and it ticks a box. You might strike it lucky and get a therapist who you connect with, but odds are you’ll end up with one like the last one I had who treated every session like a yelp review and only wanted you to agree you weren’t going to do anything that would bring their safeguarding into question (if you catch my drift). The last therapist was appalling, never asked how i was or veered from her survey questions, if your answer wasn’t a number from 1-6 or whatever it was she was not interested. I’ve had more compassion from Amazon customer reps.

A lot of people just want something one-up from the Samaritans, someone they can sound off to but who can also offer some practical solutions or provide reassurance not just listening But that costs more money than completing surveys and doing homework, then effectively blaming the person if the “exposure therapy” doesn’t work. I’m on a 10 month waiting list for more “intense CBT” now (whatever that is! Answer 1-10 this time?) as the last lot was useless but they wouldn’t discharge.

I’m sorry you haven’t received the help you deserve I do think you’re entirely right about the therapist though, I don’t think you can take anything on if you don’t trust them. Re the intense CBT - that’s what mine was apparently, but I’m not entirely sure what that meant either

 

[Bizzarebbq]

Intense CBT is basically where you have more regular, frequent sessions. There are 2 types of CBT you get offered in the NHS:
Low intensity - around 6-8 sessions for 30mins ish
High intensity - 15-20 sessions for around 1 hour

 

[Rockin' Robin]

I had my first session of CBT yesterday (on the NHS). It was fine, but I wish I could speak to someone face to face.

 

[Bizzarebbq]

I had my first session of CBT yesterday (on the NHS). It was fine, but I wish I could speak to someone face to face.

Do you know why they’re not offering you face to face?