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What do you think of CBT?
AislingDM
Posts: 1,666 Extreme Poster
I know this might not seem political, but it is a debate to be had, so I wanted to open the floor to people's thoughts. I am increasingly seeing people say they are dissatisfied with CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) and wish for other methods to cope with their distress. What do people think?
https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/drugs-and-treatments/talking-therapy-and-counselling/cognitive-behavioural-therapy-cbt/
^ some info on CBT if you're not familiar with it!
https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/drugs-and-treatments/talking-therapy-and-counselling/cognitive-behavioural-therapy-cbt/
^ some info on CBT if you're not familiar with it!
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Overall I think it can be a good treatment often and has shown to be effective for treating people's distress/anxiety/depression etc,. However, I also know that these success rates are never 100% and that it won't work for everyone. We are all individuals who respond differently to different processes so to assume it could be the only solution to an issue would be silly. I think it is a good treatment option to have for people if they wish to try it as it can work and be successful, but it is also important to remember that it won't work for everyone and that is okay.
I think it will be interesting to see opinions from the perspectives of those who have undergone CBT at some point and to hear personal stories on whether it worked or not.
Sending hugs,
Sinead
For example, I've found CBT helpful in challenging negative thoughts and instead looking for evidence of more positive things. However, I understand that in some circumstances this isn't always realistic e.g. someone who gets bullied and doesn't have friends might have a hard time with anxiety as a result, but CBT might be less helpful as there may well be an actual risk of someone being left out or bullied. So more of an environmental problem rather than mental/emotional.
I have also noticed a shift in people finding CBT and therapy less affective but part of me feels it's more complicated than just a certain type of therapy isn't working. It may be that a person is an undiagnosed neurodivergent and they might need to realise this and have therapy adapted to suit their needs. Of course that's probably not the reason for everyone who doesn't find CBT helpful but that's just my thoughts anyway
Would you like to tell us more about when you think CBT may be helpful / not always? We are listening to you if you would like to share more with us.
Similarly, I can also hear that you have had a form of CBT but done in counselling sessions. Would you like to share more with us about how you found this combination?
Take care for now and we will look forward to hopefully hearing from you again soon, talking further about CBT if you wish
Thank you @Maisy , super insightful as always Definitely, in terms of the limitations of therapists, we should never think that one treatment is going to solve the world's problems, especially those more tangible problems that you mentioned! If someone is being bullied, changing their perspective is 1) not the root cause of the issue 2) will likely be less effective if the bullying continues to reinforce their negative thought pattern. Regardless, I'm glad it was helpful for you, and this reinforces that there can be benefits to this type of interventions
I appreciate that @Amy22 ! I figure this is a good space to talk about how people want their mental health needs to be treated Completely, this is an extremely critical point you make, often CBT's downsides and pluses cannot even be evaluated if the treatment length is too short to allow the person to carry out significant work within themselves. And, I think we know by now that 6 sessions just does not cut it for most people, irrespective of the 'intensity' of the mental health needs. Do you think things would have been different had you been offered more sessions? xx
The argument against it that it's not 100% effective is a bit of a non-point in my opinion, because there's many reasons why it might not work even when the "right" type of CBT is applied. Sometimes CBT sessions are too far apart, sometimes the therapist isn't well-equipped to deal with the case, sometimes patients don't fully engage so having any affect would be difficult etc. To write off an entire treatment based on this point is seeking for a perfect solution where we don't have one yet.
I think you're so right about all the other factors that come into play when considering why a therapy might not be effective for a person, like therapist skills, how many sessions you get and when they are, even whether or not you are ready for the therapy. It's a very complex conversation for sure.
I reckon it's points and articles like this:
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/bjpsych-advances/article/cultural-adaptation-of-cognitivebehavioural-therapy/368958AB484E9D1C82FFBEABF8DF7645
that make me want to think about the different perspectives on CBT and how we can make them as accessible as possible to as many people who need psychological support
(apologies that article is very science-y, but very interesting nonetheless!!)
CBT is a therapy which focuses on the here and now. Some issues won't benefit much from this, and would require a therapy which looks back at the past - e.g. looking back into childhood to discover where a trauma started.
For many years CBT was the only therapy i'd had, and it didn't work for many of my problems. So if CBT doesn't work for you or your current situation, then don't sack off therapy all together.
I appreciate everyone's thoughts on this, I know it can be complex to discuss