will CBT help ?

[danny_s]

my partner said she did CBT for a bit and didnt work will it be worth doing it again ?

[Mr.Jitters]

I went to CBT and counselling with very little impact on my anxiety, agoraphobia or panic attacks. When I attended a group CBT session, it turned my life around in only 2 sessions and I began to recover. Different strokes for different folks. Hope you both find something that helps!

[ZHBully]

My experience with my therapist was really good, but I do think it makes a difference if you 'click' with them. If you didn't have a good experience the first time, it might not just be because of CBT. Maybe seeing someone different would help.

[MardyBum]

last time at my worst I wouldnt leave the house for a year... CBT and propanalol (sp) changed my life.. within a year I was back to "normal" going out at weekends, enjoying life and holding down a job. I did for 4-5 years and its just came back now... took me awhile to work out why but I know now and im booked in for CBT again xx

[sarahlou1983]

what sorts of things do they do in CBT??????

[MardyBum]

I will admit i have forgot alot of it, I remember learning how panic attacks work, how to change what you believe will happen (so changing how you think) and setting self goals...

[ZHBully]

what sorts of things do they do in CBT??????

There were a two main sets of things I did with my CBTherapist:
The first set of things was to do with immediate issues - recognising negative thoughts and consequential behaviours/reinforcing behaviours, then finding believable, more balanced and less frustrating alternative explanations (it was important for me to do this with a therapist, rather than purely 'self help', as at the beginning I didn't know where to begin finding a believable alternative, so then I'd blame myself for being stupid. Not helpful!). Also going through issues I'd had during the week and working out how I could do things differently, as nice easy step-by-step plans, if they came up again.

Although this first set of things were meant to help combat negative thoughts, it gets super exhausting always having to question thoughts and find more rational explanations, or remember a better course of action when faced with something upsetting!

So, the second set of things we did, which was the most valuable to me, was working on 'deeper' issues, which she called my 'core beliefs' and 'rules for living'. This was trying to figure out why negative thoughts were the first things to jump into my mind. Once I understood a bit why that was the case, then I tried to alter them to something more positive, but still in keeping with my experiences. (rather than changing them altogether as it would be hard to feel genuine doing that).

The structure of the sessions mostly focused on me going through what had happened through the week, and doing the first set of things with them. Then, to work on my core beliefs, in the session my CBTherapist would talk me through worksheets with various headings to make sure I understood the point of them, and change any of the headings to make sure they were applicable to me. Through the week I'd think about them and write my ideas down, and then in the next session go through them with her to make sure I was on the right lines and that they were helpful things (and not reinforcing my wonky thought patterns!).

If you're interested, I kept a little blog (and still write on it sometimes) when I was in therapy. This is a synopsis of the first few sessions, and these are some of the worksheets I found useful, on Core Beliefs and Rules of Living.