To ask for your experiences of CBT please?

[anitagreen]

I've been waiting 6 months for this CBT, had my first session today and I'm so underwhelmed it is annoying me.
I honestly thought this would be amazing for my anxiety and worrying etc, but all we did today was read two pages of a booklet I have read cover to cover numerous times and taught myself stuff on my own like they said to do whilst I wait,
We didn't touch on none of my past at all, or what my fears are etc it was just outlining what cbt was and doing the book I've already done? Does it get better than this in the next sessions?. Thank You x

I'm so disappointed for you OP. Like you say, you've waited so long and you deserve a good therapist - everybody does.

Can I make some suggestions? Ask her if she's going to assess your mood and anxiety levels, is she going to assess your GAD scores? These are done at the outset to record outcomes, demonstrate any progress or change. It's bog standard.

Ask her if you can discuss what goals you might agree to work towards. Are you going to do any type of exposure work? This is where you practically tackle a situation, very gently, for example a fear of heights, being in crowds, driving. There is work that can be done in session and outside in relation to this.

Ask her if you're going to be keeping thought records between sessions. This would be advised if you're doing exposure work outside of session, to track your thought's, feelings and beliefs.

This is deeply practical therapy. She should be filling in assessment forms, then more forms each week to assess progress. You should be talking about goals, homework, keeping thought records. I really hope this all kicks in at the next session. If it doesn't - complain. She's either qualified so getting paid in which case she's not very good at her job. Or she's a trainee, in which case she doesn't have enough experience or skills to be in placement and her supervisor and manager need to know this.

If it was clear you'd read and understood the booklet it's so bad that's all the first session was about. If this is NHS therapy you usually get about 6-12 sessions - 12 is unusual. So she really needs to crack on. That bloody booklet has made me feel annoyed!

@nicenewdusters that's actually a good point she never mentioned my scores, didn't actually tell me if I had anxiety or general anxiety didn't mention none of this to me at all, feel like quite a lot was missing and when I was speaking to her about how my anxiety presents and what triggers etc she stopped me and said we're not talking about this now but I don't know if that's normal, she even asked me at the end if it's ok to interrupt if I'm talking as it's so time limited to 30 minutes.

OP, I have to say that all sounds pretty awful.

A therapeutic hour, as it's called, is 50 minutes. I've never heard of a session only lasting 30 minutes from start to finish.

As for interrupting you. Part of the therapist's skill is to pace the session. This includes preparing for the end, so that the client can leave "zipped up", ie ready to resume their day to day life after what is usually quite a full on experience. If she is asking whether she can interrupt you that's not good.

When you spoke about how your anxiety presents and the triggers, to say we're not talking about that now. Well, that's just plain awful. Despite CBT not being overly concerned with exploring past trauma etc in detail, the therapist should still be seeking to build the therapeutic relationship. It's a collaborative, collegiate approach. To cut you down like that, at the beginning, especially when you were talking about what will be the core issues is really bad. I wonder when she was planning on exploring those issues with you?!

Although it's getting better, counselling is quite poorly regulated, and training standards differ widely. I think you'd be well advised to go in next week with a list of questions you want to ask. Show her you're well informed, ready to engage, and that you want to start the work. If there's no improvement, go over her head and say you'd like to be referred to a more experienced therapist, as this one seems unable to meet your needs.

Her supervisor will start to see a pattern of DNA, "did not attend", after a while, and action should be taken. But in the meantime people like you will be badly let down just when you most need support.

@nicenewdusters thank you for that i didn't even think it was rude at the time because she spoke so softly to me, but now thinking back I just didn't get nothing out of the session I think i was waiting for that wow amazing clock moment to explain why I do feel anxious?
Even when I said is there hope of this ever going will I always have anxiety she said some people have gotten over it but are you reassurance seeking and In our next session I won't be giving you the reassurance, however I was asking because I genuinely wanted to know if it's possible to become anxiety free etc X

Please wait and try it.

Cbt is 8-16 weeks course and if you have one to one she/he will drill down and help you challenge and change thinking and reactions. As that is what CBT is. It can be immensity powerful.

I used to do this as a student psychologist after my degrees but before PhD . Ask who is helping you (student clin psychologist or qualified clinical psychologist? )

I decided after that, despite knowing how powerful it was, that a masters in a related career/field was more for me. I still use cbt but more sparingly as it is not for everyone.

It is quite powerful though when used by an experienced practitioner and it takes at least 4 sessions to get down to deeper issues IME. So please don't give up after first session. X

I 100% won't give up just annoyed atm,
But I've realised also I seem to get so anxious at weekends I'm not entirely sure why but it's something I've learnt today I guess lol.

16-18 week course? I was told i'd get 5 session on the NHS.

There are different levels of CBT input and different levels of qualification of the practitioner. A qualified clinical psychologist (takes years of study and experience to gain that title) delivering 16 or more sessions of flexible CBT integrated perhaps with other models, will give you a more in depth approach and also pay attention to early life and core beliefs formed in childhood. A PWP (kind of entry level graduate role with minimal experience) delivering 6 sessions in an IAPt service will only offer a mnaualised, surface, strategies, here and now intervention - which might very helpful for some and especially for mild probs, but it does feel like you would find that sufficient.

Ofgh , I can only talk about about what was offered 25 years ago when I was in that field. Clinically at that time CBT was offered for 8-16 sessions at that point for serious individual issues. It was a clinical optimum but may have changed through research since.

Lower level issues at that time, got me or my colleagues, as assistant clin psychs for one of the many "3 session group courses" we ran.

I just had 10 weeks and it was life changing after suffering with anxiety and phobias for 20 years.

Weeks 1-2 we spent looking at negative thought patterns. They helped me to see what negative behaviour patterns I followed. End of each week we had homework set. It was in this week that I learned how badly I spoke to myself. I started to live by the mantra of “I would never speak to someone else this badly so why myself” this was a small step of thinking on a more conscious level and not letting my thought rule me.

Weeks 3-4 we spent looking at the patterns which lead to negatives behaviours and discussing ways in which I could break the habits. Seeing it on a board in a circle really helped me understand how something had to give

Weeks 5-6 we delved deeper into bringing the emotional response and the rational response to an even level. I had been feeling rather anxious throughout the week as I had just taken a huge step towards my career. My therapist asked me if it was anxiety or excitement as they both give the same physical feeling. I realised that I had always attempted to suppres any feelings of emotions that gave me that sensation and couldn’t remember the last time that I truly allowed myself to get excited. I realised that
Anxiety was inevitable but in a good way when not linked to negative thoughts.

Week 7-8 we went into core beliefs more. These are the beliefs that you have from a young age that can’t be changed and usually determine how we act and think. We then rationally challenged them.

Weeks 9-10 I was ready to wrap up. ( CBT should Be very client led) and so we went over the weeks and look at prevention methods.

What I learned was that the way that I speak to myself is first and foremost the most important change

That CBT has not magically made my phobias and anxiety disappear BUT I feel like I can rationalise them now.

I understand myself more as a person and therefore have an understanding of my thoughts. I accept myself more.

That everyone fights their own battle. My anxiety got out of hand a few years ago when I had some family problems
And couldn’t understand why some people were acting the way they were. I interpreted this to mean that I was unlovable and of course I would pull apart everything I had ever done in my life to back up this assumption. It’s helped me to understand others and has improved my relationship with them. The way they act is to do with them and is not a reflection on me.

I hope I have explained how helpful it is when they work this way. I don’t think I would have got the same out of it if they had handed me a booklet to go through.

To go by my own experiences, it worked incredibly well. However, that was with a private therapist who specialised in trauma, and with whom I got on well.

I have heard very mixed things about NHS CBT - some people I know have gained a lot from it, others have felt that it wasn't being done properly.

I'd stick with it and see how it pans out. I was very sceptical of the whole thing at first - I genuinely didn't see how 'reprogramming my brain' could change how I felt - but it literally changed my life. If it doesn't work, can you afford to go private?

CBT helped me overcome PTSD after about 12 sessions it helped me come 'back down to earth' when having a flashback and helped me realise that it was a flashback and wasn't real.

I found it really helpful, we re lived the situation and filed away the files in my brain that had caused the PTSD and as my counsellor explained it got worse before it got better the worst time was between sessions 3-5 but gradually got better and now rarely have flashbacks.
CBT really helped my situation, I would stick at it for the full course and hopefully will help you also.

I had it and didn't find it that much help. The therapist was great but quickly acknowledged that CBT wouldn't help me and referred me upwards. He described it as a sticking plaster that for some people would allow a wound to heal but not all things heal on their own and for those things CBT is inadequate.

CBT gives you coping strategies. If you want to address your childhood first that's more 'therapy' based. I've had both. The talking therapy helped me realise the NPD mother annihilated my self esteem & caused my depression. The CBT helped me with strategies to cope wirh a) my catastrophising every normal life up & down & b) my destructive negative thinking (which is so automatic & bloody destructive).

Hiya everyone had my second session today glad I stuck it out was really good, she said she's very happy with my progress and I feel more content and like I know what I'm doing now thanks everyone for the support x

I’ve had mixed experiences. The first time I had it it was very much like you describe, I persevered but the therapist just kept giving me handouts about fight of flight responses and telling me stuff I already knew even after I told him I already knew. It wasn’t very useful at all.

A couple of years later I self referred through my local mental health services and CBT was recommended and I was very reluctant and told them why I felt it wouldn’t help. The therapist told me that she didn’t think what I’d had previously was ‘proper’ CBT and referred me anyway.

My current therapist is awesome and I have really found it useful. She’s helping me to figure out why I always put the needs and feelings of others before my own and how this has led me to have a series of disasterous relationships and blame myself for my DS’s anxiety issues. Unfortunately I can only have 16 sessions on the NHS but we spaced them out to last longer, she got me on a mindfulness course and has now referred me to the psychotherapy service for ongoing help