CBT Therapy

[Keggit]

Hello guys
I suffer from very bad social anxiety. I would like to know if any of you had a CBT therapy. Did it help you ? Any feedback would be very much appreciated.
Thanks
Keggit

[NoPoet]

I have had counselling with a trained CBT counsellor and every session made me feel brilliant. Talking therapy has always made me feel better.

However a lot of willpower is needed cos you actually have to go out and do the things you discuss. This is where most people fall down, and this is why some people don't think CBT is any good. You will only get out of it what you put into it. A lot of effort is involved.

Having good friends helps cos you can go and spend time with them to unwind. Get used to being around friends in a comfortable environment at first then start going for walks and to the cinema, building up towards going out for lunch with them which a lot of people find scary at first.

Believe in yourself. Your social anxiety will improve, it takes a lot of time and practice but it is so worth the effort!

[popsy]

Im having CBT at the moment, ive only had two sessions so far but both of them have made me feel very positive afterwards. Im not saying CBT is easy, its a lot of work, the the counseller guides you through the work YOU need to put in, and you get homeowrk every week. You start off doing 6 months, this is one hour a week and then it is reviewed to see where you need to go after that. It definitely is a therapy that you need to put all the work into, instead of one where you go into a room once a week and have a chat and then you magically get better - those kind of therapies really dont work for anxiety and panic, as habits we have learnt to avoid situations etc are so inground we need to re-learn new ones and this takes practice and its not easy but can be done.
There are alot of success stroies using CBT for anxiety related problems and that gives me hope. I would really encourage you to try it, but you must go into it knowing it isnt going to be easy and it could be two steps forward & one step back sometimes, BUT you can get there. :hugs:

Good Luck x

[PoppyC]

Hi
I have CBT and I find it does help sometimes, however I would not class this type of therapy as a life changing one for me anyhow...I find some of the stuff so basic and simple I have at times felt quite annoyed by what the counsellor says to me. I feel like she is talking to a 5 year old! However, I then go out into the world and quite often fail to put into practice what I was being taught, which I already knew! lol It does make me feel very positive at the time - like reading a self help book - but then all my good intentions to put into practice what I have been told or reading, fail miserably at times.
I think most of us know deep down how to think positively and how to take positive steps....its just putting it into practice, and when we are so down with anxiety and depression it is hard to do that - that is what depression does. I try to replace every negative thought with a positive one and that helps, but I never needed a CBT counsellor to tell me that! I am going to try a different kind of therapy. My counsellor for CBT told me they deal with the present and the future and we dont talk about the past....but this is not ideal for me, because I think we need to work through the events of the past, and then go from there onwards. I was told that on the NHS you can only receive 12 sessions (in my area anyway)

[sunshine-lady]

I am having CBT at the moment from my support worker at home. She comes to my house to help me deal with my agoraphobia issues and is here for 2 hours per week. I did have CBT from my therapist last year which didn't help much.

Things are going well at the moment. We have set small achieveable goals with week 6 being my target to go to my back garden gate alone. I have lots of homework to do and I have to push myself hard, but I am determined to give it my all. Luckily with being in secondary care, there isn't a set time limit for my CBT and I will be able to have it for as long as they think I am benefiting from it.

I believe I am at the stage where I need to deal with the 'here and now' issues. I have had pshychotherapy and counselling to help to deal with my past and although they have helped to some degree, they also opened up more wounds and made it difficult to put a closure on my past and move on to deal with the issues I am now facing.

We all all different (so are the therapists) and although I am finding CBT helpful, I am sure it isn't for everyone and it certainly isn't a miracle cure.

xxx

[Keggit]

hi girls
thank you very much for your comments !
Take care
Keggit