Can u treat yourself with CBT at home ??

I have seen my occ therapist and she says CBT is available locally but there is a waiting list, she also says many people find it very difficult to talk face to face in the setting of a hospital, many people have skeletons in the cupboard which they dont like to face, she suggested keeping on with any medication but trying some worksheets on CBT she has....she said a book on the basics of CBT by Ivy Blackburn is good, has anyone found they have helped themselves out of anxiety using CBT at home and then getting out there and doing thing

and also are there any programmes you can use over the net based on cbt or are they any DVDS on the subject?

Hi Frankie,

I'm currently having CBT therapy and a lot of it is based around doing homework. The idea being that you create yourself a hierarchy of the things you fear and work through the least feared first. I am working with exposure to my phobia of vomit. I started by eating prepacked sandwiches that I thought could put me at risk of food poisoning. I did this for a week until the fear had lessened. I then moved onto looking at black and white pictures of vomit. I had to do this for an hour daily until I could look at them without feeling anxious. I then moved onto colour pictures of vomit and this week I actually made my own vomit out of porridge, soup, chopped carrots etc and then had to crouch over the toilet and pour it down as if I were doing it. I have to now do this every day this week and next week I move onto pictures of people vomitting and so on until I reach my goal.

If you create yourself a hierarchy of your problems and started to expose yourself daily to the least troublesome ones first and eventually working up to the worst as I've done. You'll find that you start to become less sensitive to the fears.

I hope this helps.

Mark

Hi Frankie,

I have done something very similar to Mark with varying degrees of success. I got to the point you are at now Mark and then kind of gave up as I didn't know where to go next. I suppose this is the good thing about having someone guide you through it face-to-face.

At the moment I am doing an online CBT course which is interesting (but also a little boring to be honest lol). Anyway, if you want to check it out the website is:
http://www.livinglifetothefull.com/


I have also been trying Mood Gym which is a little more interesting, very interactive and I have actually learnt more than I thought I had. It's more about thoughts and feelings and controlling them than anything though, so without knowing what your specific problem is I wouldn't know whether to recommend it. Anyway, here is the website just in case:
http://moodgym.anu.edu.au/flash_intro.asp

There's also plenty of reading you can do about CBT. I have various other websites saved in my favourites so let me know if you need anymore lol.


Tam x

Hi
i had an intensive inpatient course of cbt for a month and that was two years ago. It really did work and i made a huge amount of progress and was able to do things that I would never even have dreamed off even before I became ill.

However, I do believe that u have to do cbt with a therapist face to face to take u through it, as they measure your anxiety and can take u through the reality of the situation once u have done it and also they can measure exactly what it is that is so disturbing to u.

There is also a very good book which can supplement it which is called "The Feeling Good Handbook" can't remember who it is written by off hand but if u r interested I will go and look for u.



ycowie

Its by David Burns and is on our reading list.

Its a heavy read so if your concentration is poor just read Chapter 3 first.


Meg
www.anxietymanagementltd.com

Your anxiety is the human representation of the pictures that you paint using your many vivid colours of revolving and reoccurring thoughts.
How big is your gallery ?

Hi, im a sufferer of Panic and anxiety. i fear driving...

i use online cbt to top up individual and group based work covered.

i use living life to the full

mood gym doesnt do anything for me lol

milly xxxx

Hi Frankie

It is possible but I would recommend a more stuctured sessions in the form of group or one on one therapy. If for the only reason that it help to keep on the straight and narrow and there's always a trained professional there to help if you have any question or difficulties applying the techniques.

I myself have chosen to go it alone. I am agoraphobic and as a result severely limited to certain options. So like you I would prefer to practice from home. It is possible if you get your knowledge and have a good understanding of what you need to do.

I'm currently reading Overcoming Anxiety by Helen Kennerley. That coupled with the living life to the full site Tammy first mentioned I have seen some positive results over the past week or so.

Best of luck

steve

Hey Frankie...
I have also had to wait months for my CBT though it is finally here haha but I have been using Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Dummies that I bought on Play.com and its really really good....i know other people that have read this book on this site too that have found it helpful :) So id recommend giving that a go whilst you wait :)

Hope it goes well,
Candy xx

yeah i just started using living life to the full cbt website and it's working really great so far.
i do find doing face to face therapy a little scary. if you're agoraphobic how can you go out and see a therapist if you can't go out anyways?
it's kind of a roundabout thing.
i would really like to go through therapy but feel i can't even get through the first hurdle of going out and doing that.
i'd rather start at home and work up to doing face to face therapy or do over-the-phone therapy.

I've tried Moodgym... the essence of it is good but as a lot of anxiety stems from things that are so deep in our thoughts and we do not really understand our thoughts process when we go into our panics ...I'm not sure what I think.

Anything that gives us ideas is great and I'm sure we can take things from it but personally I know that when I am not in panic I do think why or if only I had..but once in one ..that logic does not kick in at all...so for me one to one treatment is the way to go... not sure what to say about Moodgym...think that sometimes it puts all the emphasis on it being our problem but doesn't really go into senarios that we are not in control of or other peoples behaviour... I've not heard of the living life to the full website ..but will certainly go in and take a look... like I say if there is any hope I will grab at it...but it is the fast thought process that we don't sometimes grab that we need that one to one on ..and that real person saying things that are personal to our own circumstance...

Wishing you all the best and hope it does work for you truly

Had to come back and say that living life to the full a much better site than mood gym...definitely worth popping in and registering ...

Hiya. Ive only been suffering with this 2 1/2 weeks, in its heightened phase, although im sure looking back I have had anxiety and panic attacks before but just did not label them. ive seen my gp, been put on tablets and have been referred for CBT. I too have been told ive got to wait for cbt. im looking at 14 weeks before treatment starts. That in itself caused me to panic. im now using a website called getselfhelp.co.uk. where you can do diy cbt. So far, so good. its a 60 page bookelt and has some brill info in it. I am nervous about doing it myself and I know that i have got some triggers that can only be dealt with by someone trained but im thinking, if i can at least tackle some of the smaller issues, Ill be able to function better. you should have a look at the site, as ive only just started doing the first worksheets but my rational mind can already see, how irrational my thoughts and behaviour are in the midst of my panic. :)

Welcome! CBT4Panic is the best. Most people who use it on this forum (a link to the info is under my pasty bit) have a lot of success. It is an online course created by an experienced CBT therapist. You get a 30 day free trial but I payed the full amont as it is well worth it.
If you are short of pennies I would recomend Claire Weekes's book Self Help For Your Nerves.
How about making a post in the "introduce yourself" section?
Take care

also some very good (free) self-help workbooks here

http://www.cci.health.wa.gov.au/

if you feel like working thro stuff yourself

thetube82

An waiting to c a counsellor/ CBT for my phobia of vomiting I just want to live a normal life for once am sick of suffering everyday even the slightest sound or movement in my stomach kicks my phobia n anxiety off

I second PanchoGoz, CBT4PANIC is an excellent programme. It's easy to understand and follow, you can do it in your own time at your own pace and you can easily do it from home. There is email support if you need it and, Robin, the therapist who's programme it is, sometimes comes on NMP so you can always leave him a PM if needed.

Having been agoraphobic and totally housebound since 2004, I am now making steady progress using CBT4PANIC. It's excellent value for money, there are easy payment plans too to match any budget :)