CBT & Hypnotherapy

[W.I.F.T.S.]

I'm currently undergoing CBT and, to be fair, I'm a bit disappointed with the therapist. In my first session he claimed that I'd be cured in 6-8 sessions, even though I've suffered from severe GAD and depression for over 4 years. So, that starting the alarm bells ringing a little. He also comes out with stuff like "other therapists are crap, it's not real CBT".

I had my second session yesterday and it seems like he tried to hypnotise me. I kind of second guessed what was coming without him saying what he was going to do, which caused me to feel quite panicky. I did calm down after a little while, but he kept asking "is your anxiety at zero yet?", which made me feel pressured into saying it was (even though it wasn't) or else I might be seen as being difficult or unreceptive. I was kind of torn between fighting it and giving in because it was for my benefit. I tried to go with it, but just couldn't relax enough.

He then started coming out with stuff like "you'll feel much more confident from now on" and "you'll feel more relaxed"......"now wake up (!)....right, that should have fixed it!". I don't think so. How's me having my eyes closed with you saying "you will feel more confident" meant to erase 4 years of hell? he even short-changed me out of 20 minutes. Although, I do strangely feel more relaxed and confident! lol

I am trying. I'm attending my sessions. I've nearly read a book that he recommended. As far as exercise goes I've been swimming a couple of times, been to the gym tonight and played football. I do think though that this therapist is as uncredible as the last one that I saw, who listened to a long list of factors in my breakdown before coming out with "so it was basically drugs then?!" and when I asked her for help on fear of flying she said "oh. I have that one too. I'll have to look it up!!!!".

I was considering going private with this therapist once my 6-8 sessions were up, but I won't bother. I guess that they're under pressure to get us through the door as quickly as possible from the nhs, but I don't see much benefit in being rushed through the system and told that I've had my time, I should feel better now. Surely it's not that hard to find a therapist who really understands cbt and is able to use it to actually treat the illness?

Hypnotherapy is something that interests me, although I think that I'd have to be with a very patient therapist and someone that I had faith in. I have tried self-hypnosis with a CD, but I just can't seem to go under. I've tried putting the CD on as I go to sleep and as I'm snoozing in the morning, without success. Does anybody have any tips or experience on how to get it to work for you?

[nomorepanic]

Hypnotherapy is very personal I think. I find a man's voice more relaxing than a woman.

I had it years ago and had a woman and whilst I did warm to her she didn't help that much in terms of curing me.

When I went to a health farm I had a guy and it was so much more relaxing. Now when I go there is only one woman that does it and her accent annoys me and I can't relax.

I think you need to trust, believe and like the voice for it to help.

I love Paul McKennas voice so he could do it for me lol

If the person annoys you it won't help or work so you have to be comfortable with that first.

[honeybee]

hello...

well i was gonna say i hope you're not paying for it cos that CBT sounds terrible...

i also had CBT on the NHS and it was crap... i did a lot of talking but i didnt seem to get anything back at all... infact at the beggining of all my panic i used to experiance a constant state of de-realisation and de-personalisation and at the time had no idea what it was and just thought i was going mad. when i explained my symptoms to my therapist she replied "hmmmm, that is strange, i've never heard of that before"... well you can imagine what that did for my anxiety, she may as well have said "yes, you suspisions have been confirmed, you are going mad"...

althouigh im sure CBT is the way forwards i suppose you just gotta find the right one..

as for hypnotherapy, i went last year and it really helped me overcome my fear of staying at home on my own (something i hadnt done for over 2 years nearly)... but i highly recommend going to someone who has been reccomended

[W.I.F.T.S.]

Thanks for your replies guys. Honeybee, I've had the most severe depersonalisation imaginable, even since I had a bad time with Prozac, which was about 3 years ago. How did you get over it in the end? I guess it's just a matter of time and relaxing.

It is very frustrating that I've had to wait for months and months at a time for therapy and, when I have eventually got it, the therapists don't seem like they want to fix me...instead they seem to want to get me through a "one size fits all" programme as quickly as possible. It's also pretty scary that, if I ever really did lose it, the treatment that I would recieve would be no use at all.

I know that private therapy is very expensive but, if I could find someone that could genuinely help me, it would definitely be worth it.

[Wenjoy]

Hiya - I had cbt last year for 8 weeks and all it did was help me identify the "hot thought" that trips me into a pnic attack which is "its hot and stuffy in here and I cant breathe - gotta get out" I try to change that thought pattern but still the same though I try to stay in a situation im scared of. Wenjoy x

[W.I.F.T.S.]

I do genuinely feel that cbt and hypnotherapy are great forms of treatment, but that there are a lot of people practicising it who are no where near as great as they think they are and that the way that the system is set up really doesn't help. At the beginning of my second session the therapist said that we could go through analysis, but that it's a long, drawn out process...we're much better zapping it quickly. If I truly felt that my wellbeing was the important issue with these sessions, then I'd stand my ground more and ask that he waits until I'm relaxed enough before he starts hypnosis. As it is, I feel like we could quickly get into a bit of a standoff situation, with us both going through the motions until my 6 weeks or whatever is up.

He was expecting me to say that my anxiety level was zero and then he'd hypnotise me and it would all be fixed. I held out and said that it was '1' and it wasn't going down (it was probably more like 3), but he perservered regardless. Surely he knows when someone's under and when they're not? He sounded really disappointed when we had our follow up call today that I wasn't cured.

Maybe I am being a bit weak-willed in not saying "I think you're rushing things and underestimating my issues", but I don't really believe that the guy has that deep an understanding of how to help me and that he'd probably flounder around for the next few weeks. I don't really have anything against him, and I'm trying to take as much from it as I can, but I suspect that he's playing at it a bit.

He seems to think that I have no comprehension of cbt at all. I've already been on a 10 week course and I've read atleast half a dozen books, so I'm pretty au fait with it all. I have been feeling a fair bit better, but that's probably a lot to do with how I'm trying to throw myself into it by swimming every day after work, playing sports and doing things that scare me. I'm also quite pleased with myself for the way that I've stuck with therapy and tried to follow his advice.

If I could find someone that really had a grasp of what was wrong with me, I feel like I could climb mountains. I know that I've got it in me to do great things, I just need a little guidance. Maybe that's my mistake. Maybe I need to learn to guide myself?