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Cbt

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
Can someone explain the processes involved in Cognitive Beahviour Therapy.

I went to a conference today all about depression and it's management in primary care, and as soon as the speaker mentioned CBT my colleague got really angry and said she had to leave. Later she explained she thinks CBT is a load of bollocks. So...

Does anyone have any experiences of it?

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    She got angry and left because she thinks it's bollocks?

    Most mental health services are rubbish. I think the evidence on CPNs is quite weak, and there was a recent paper showing that intensive interventions do not prevent episodes of child abuse and neglect.

    Anyway, as with all these things CBT is worth a shot. I personally have no experience of it though.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Kentish wrote:
    She got angry and left because she thinks it's bollocks?

    Most mental health services are rubbish. I think the evidence on CPNs is quite weak, and there was a recent paper showing that intensive interventions do not prevent episodes of child abuse and neglect.

    Anyway, as with all these things CBT is worth a shot. I personally have no experience of it though.


    She's training to be a counsellor. She doesn't like the 'quick fix' emphasis.

    As for CPN intervention, I think it's too short. After an initial three months you're kicked back out there for someone else to deal with.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I think that is grossly unprofessional.

    I have no experience of CBT, although I would be wary of anything that claims to be "quick fix", because I don't think that there is such a thing.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I don't have any experience because the waiting list was so long I never got to have it, but I don't understand the concept that CBT was a "quick fix". When it was being described to me, they were explaining how hard you have to work at it and you have to be fully involved, do "homework" and it's generally a long slog to get where you want to go, and can be extremely hard work. I don't see how that's a quick fix. I've heard it's a really worthwhile treatment because it makes you challenge the way you think, feel and everything else and means that you can change longterm negative thought processes etc. As I said, unfortunately have no personal experience so I might be talking total crap..
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Hi
    I had CBT, well kind of. I began it with my shrink, but then I got really low so she concentrated on keeping me alive rather than continuing with CBT. Xapis is right, it is a lot of work, I started by filling in "thought diaries" and then after a couple weeks of that, i had to fill it in and challenge my negative thoughts. If you want copies of the sheets I had, just send me a PM, and I'll e mail them to you.
    xxx
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I think she believes it to be a 'quick fix' because it is so intensive in the short term but there is little follow up. She showed me a study in which it was claimed that relapse is higher amongst those who undergoe CBT rather than other forms of treatment.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is a combination of a cognitive explanation and a behavioural treatment that aims to restructure the way cloients think about their problem.
    One of my lecturers at uni uses CBT as she is a professional psychologist as well as a lecturer. She doesn't see it as a 'quick-fix', but more of a process. She says that in general there is about a 6 week process with evaluations thorughout mapping the progess of the client from maladaptive thought processes to more 'normal' thought processes.
    I have no experience of CBT personally.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    i've had it for a specific phobia, and it does work to some degree, because you come to understand your thought processes, and the difference between rational fear and panic. although now i'm at the stage where i know why i'm panicking, and that it's ridiculous and irrational, but i still can't stop being scared. and i've found CBT can't help me past that point.

    i'm not sure how well it would work for depression though, although have never had it for that.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    i think the good thing about cbt (although i have not ever had any experience of it as a client) but in theory, it should teach you the skills you actually need to cope. its supposed to really make you think on a deeper level about what you are doing and why and learns you how to correct it. i don't think it is a "quick ifix" at all. and to be honest, you could argue that it is better than some other forms of counselling like person centred counselling; because at least with cbt, it gives you the skills to cope better and manage your day to day life, thoughts, feelings, behaviours, etc. outside of the counselling room; whereas something like humanistic counselling, you don't really learn anything, you don't aquire any skills to help you cope better - you just sit there and talk about your problems, in the hope that by talking about them you can overcome them. cbt is a lot more focused on getting a positive outcome... although obviously, it depends on what the problem is. for example something like an eating disorder, or problems with anxiety are more likely to be 'cured' through cbt than any other form of therapy. but something like general lonliness or mild depression - are more likely to be helped soely by talking through feelings and knowing someone is there for you talk to - so a humanistic theory would be better, for example.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    i would aggree with her. i was having CBT whilst being abused, and i felt like i couldn't say anything (and then didn't tell anyone for 3 years) and that my "big problem" must be based in my early childhood-which really is a load of shit.

    if it works so well, why did i end up having 6 weeks out of school afterwards, after a possible breakdown, and felt unable to go out of the house. the CBT left me feeling scared and confused not any better. i had 6 weeks of it, but after that i was left to my own devices. I had to rely on a charity for counciling, and all i was offered after the CBT was prozac...and this was when i was 11.

    it is just another quick fix which really doesn't work.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    yes. but twisted_trinity it didn't work in that case becasue the issue you needed to deal with was "being abused." i personally, don't think cbt would be appropriate to deal with that tbh. you needed to sit down with someone and talk to them, you needed as a kid to rely on them. - thats not really what cbt is about at all. cbt is about skills, and about addressing the issues in a way that you can then function better in the real-world... and are then better equipped to deal with your problems on your own.
    my guess is it didn't work because it wasn't addressing the problems you were having. it is supposed to be shorter-term (i think the max. recommended is about 6 months, although more often than not its more likely to be about 6 weeks... but it all depends on the issues the clients bring to the counselling sessions.) so it is shorter term than something like humanistic counselling becasue it focuses directly on overcoming a specific problem and learning the skills to cope with it better.
    in terms of suffering abuse - i cannot see why cbt would have been recommended tbh. unless your gp thought you just needed some counselling and cbt was all that was avaliable, so may be it was more so a case of something is better than nothing?!
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