This could be long
Hello everyone
Today was my first day of CBT, and as promised, I thought I'd update you all with what happened. This is for the benefit of members considering CBT or for those currently awaiting it.
My CBT was done through my GP and takes place at the surgery.
I met my therapist (I've forgotten her name, I'm terrible at remembering names) and I think she said her title was a CBT Therapist. I believe, since Googling it, that this is a psychologist that specialises in CBT.
The appointment started at 09:30 and was scheduled to last one hour.
We introduced ourselves, and she wanted to recap on what brought me to her. I had to explain it was my pathological fear of brain tumours. She then asked: "do you believe this is a problem with your health, or a problem with your thinking?" I answered the latter, and apparently that's a good starting point :roflmao::roflmao:
She then started out asking me about:
* My profession, marital status, whether living on own/still at home with parents etc.
She then asked about any specific memories I had from my childhood of health anxiety - or anything significant that would cause me distress. I was able to think of a few (which, for personal reasons, I won't list). She then asked other more probing questions, like if my mother is a worrier/anxious person. Apparently, having a mother that worries a lot or is very anxious is a risk factor for health anxiety.
We then went through my adolescent years, and again found a few more "significant moments" as she called them.
Unsurprisingly, taking a case history took nearly the full one hour. So much in the way of CBT was not done today. (Sorry, I made you read all this only to tell you that now haha).
However, I can have six sessions with her, each lasting one hour at two-week intervals. She's given me a booklet to read (and fill out sections of it) for the next session.
Another thing I was told was that any notes she makes remain confidential between us and that the referring doctor (my GP) will not see these notes and they will appear sealed in my medical file. Although this does not worry me, I'm sure this could be very helpful for any other UK members who are maybe afraid to seek CBT because of others finding out, including their doctors.
I'll update this post as my CBT continues. It's probably too early to say, but I'm confident this will work for me :-)
Sorry about the length of the post!
