CBT Refusal

[Mr Parfect]

I had been on a waiting list to get an assessment for CBT.

After a long ten months, that assessment arrived, and after talking through with the therapist, she was of the opinion that CBT would not be recommended to me.

This came as a shock, as the whole route of CBT was at the suggestion of my GP last year. I was stunned, frustrated and angry.

Two months later, the therapist saw me again, to reaffirm her decision to not let me undertake CBT in a bid to resolve major issues I have going on with myself.

Her main reasons for this were that I was unable to transfer the abilities and skills from the exercises over into my lifestyle scenarios.

At this point I asked her if CBT was not suitable, then what else might be worth pursuing. It was then that she advised AGAINST any mental health form of treatment to combat the problems I have.

As she believes the issues are intwined in the AS, nothing would work.

A report is now being sent back to my GP now, to confirm her decision.

The question is what do I do now?

I cannot carry on regardless.

[Nigel]

Hi Mr Parfect,

I was really sorry to read about your disappointing news.

I don’t know much about AS but it was something my friend was finding out about. She was never officially diagnosed but it would explain a lot of the difficulties she experienced interacting with people throughout her life. So with my very limited knowledge, what your CBT therapist said does make a bit of sense.

With many problems, a person often knows ‘logically’ what they should be doing but find it impossible to do so because deep down their subconscious mind had decided otherwise. It’s gotten into some ‘bad thinking habits’. So CBT aims catch those thoughts and challenge them with logical reasoning, trying to change them into more accurate interpretations of the situation and more helpful responses to it.

In my limited knowledge of AS, a person actually interprets a lot of subtle things in a slightly different way, albeit a way that makes perfect sense to that person. So it’s probably not gonna be that effective to try to use logical thinking to challenge some unhelpful responses because to that person it makes perfect logical sense as it is.

But that said, why did it have to take 10 months to come to that conclusion :mad:
It’s bad enough that there’s often such a long waiting list for actual therapy, but to wait all that time for an initial assessment seems totally unacceptable to me.

I don’t know what help is available but I can’t believe there’s nothing, so I would throw the ball back in their court and make it ‘their’ problem again. Go back and say that if CBT isn’t suitable then what would be? And stress the fact that you’ve already been waiting a year now, and another long wait is totally unacceptable. And if you find it difficult dealing with people and getting your point across, perhaps take along somebody who can do a little ‘shouting’ on your behalf.

Good luck – I hope this gets sorted for you soon :)

Nigel

[Mr Parfect]

Thanks Nigel for a very educated response.

Ten months for an initial assessment is horrendous....and even then, this only materialised after I investigated and chased up the adult psychology department responsible for setting appointments. Had I not chased them up, who knows how much longer I would have waited for an assessment.

Although I have set an appointment with my GP to "discuss" the findings next week, I hold no hope for a reprieve, or a suggestion of other alternative services, as that would have been the job of the "expert" who assessed me. It was made abundantly clear that NO mental health service/therapy would help me in addressing the issues Ive clearly got.

Im at the stage now where Im prepared to stick two fingers up to the notion of seeking assistance. Im fed up of myself, my negative quirks, and my nonexistent social circle. I suspect its time to think of something more unconventional...