To ask about your experience with cbt?

[Dollycarton81]

I'm thinking of looking into a course of CBT for some ongoing anxiety issues I'm experiencing. They've got a lot worse during lockdown to the point where I am struggling to live life normally and go to certain places without a lot of stress and anxiety before and during.

I tried CBT once before with limited success but I think that was down to the counsellor who wasn't very experienced.

There is a mental health facility near me that doesn't appear to require a GP referral so I'm building up the courage to give them a call and just see how it all works. I know there are limited face to face consultations due to covid at the minute but I suspect alternatives such as online courses or phone consultations are still happening.

I just would like to hear if it worked for you? Did you find it useful immediately? What sort of therapy did you do - online, face to face appointments etc? How long did it take for you to notice a difference? Thank you

I tried it twice for anxiety and sleep issues. The first tie it wasn't that great but the second time, a few years later worked. I had telephone CBT and I think that made a difference. Not having to sit across from the person made me more at ease opening up and being honest.

I am sure there are a lot of factors that make it more or less useful but my second experience was great and I rarely get anxiety symptoms now - 4 or 5 years on.

It's worth a try - good luck!

For me it was really hard work and I had a lot of false starts but it's been 100% worth all the effort.

In the end I had to go private and that's what has made the difference. I just wasn't high enough priority to receive NHS funded counseling. I'd self referred to 3 different NHS services in my area. One never called me back, one did the initial assessment booked my first proper appointment but then never called me and the final one did the assessment, booked my first proper appointment and then sent me a letter saying they had to cancel my appointment due to demand and to call them 'if I still needed their services'. To put this in context my anxiety was so bad that there were times I wouldn't leave the house. I've had panic attacks where I passed out on a plane, was sick multiple times and had to be wheeled through the airport and I have lots of other similar stories. But the NHS services in my area are just too busy, unless you're a danger to yourself or others then they don't have the resources.

Going private was a breakthrough. I've gone from treading water with my anxiety to actually being in control. I can't remember the last time I had a panic attack and anxiety just doesn't feature in my day to day life any longer. It crops up every now and then but it's nothing compared to what it once was.

Don't be afraid to change counsellors though, you won't necessarily click with the first one you get.

@Curiosity101 sorry if this is personal but can I ask how you found the private therapy and roughly how much it cost?

I have the same reservations regarding NHS or funded therapy. Last time I tried it it just did nothing for me and in some ways left me feeling worse.

I did a course over the phone because of corona restrictions and it was great for me. Really got a lot from it!

I've found it to be hard work, especially at first, but it was so worth it. I'd been struggling with various levels of anxiety for 8 or more years and couldn't imagine a life where it didn't factor into every day. But now it's very rarely a consideration for me.

Mine was paid for by my health insurance so I'm not 100% how much it costs but I did ask. It's either £20 or £40ph.

Google 'Skype therapy' and you should see a website full of private counsellors that you can look through.

I didn't mean to put you off NHS services, it might be fine in your area. I just remember how demotivating it was each time I reached out for help and then didn't get anywhere. There was probably around 2 years between each of my referrals. So I've spent way more of my life than necessary 'coping' with anxiety.

Thank you. This has spurred me on to call and make an appointment. I have a telephone consultation booked for next Wednesday now. I hope this is the first step in tackling some of my demons.

I'm on week 8 with a funded trainee counsellor (meant I could jump the long waiting list!), for depression and anxiety.
Luckily we clicked and he is amazing. It's been very hard and very emotional,but I can get through sessions now without crying. The sessions are done through video calls at the moment, which I was very nervous about, but actually they are fine and probably better for me than face to face.
For me it's mostly been about dealing with negative thoughts and problem solving. It did take a few weeks to see improvement and get used to sharing thoughts, but I'm so glad I stuck it out.

I've seen CBT work for a lot of people, but it really is a case that you get out what you put in. There will be "homework" between sessions, some of which will be time consuming and maybe uncomfortable. It can have a massive affect though.

@Stompythedinosaur what sort of 'homework' should I expect? I'm not great at mindfulness techniques (I've tried) so if it's things like that I might struggle. But I will try my best.

I managed to get 8 weeks CBT through my employer. I work in emergency services and was having trouble dealing with a traumatic incident. Went to CBT for that but actually ended up talking and addressing other anxieties in my life. I feel so different now, it was totally worth it. You learn coping strategies and help you view things differently.
There's no reason to suffer. Definitely make that call

I’m having cbt at the moment. My homework for this week is to write my worries down and then you’re supposed to not worry about them until the evening when you set yourself around 20 minutes to look at what you’ve written and ‘worry’! It actually really works for me. Once writtten down and I come back to it, I can make sense of my worries.

I had it for birth trauma ptsd and it worked really well for me. I was in a terrible place, not myself at all when I had my first session. I had 13 sessions in total and it helped me so much, I was completely back to myself and completely recovered from the ptsd. I had a really good therapist and I clicked with her really well and worked really hard with the homework and engaged with it. Worked wonders for me. 3 years on I’m still fully recovered and have had another child since. Very grateful to have had this. Not sure I’d be here today I hadn’t.

My worries are usually irrational fears or physical reactions I have when I go into certain places. I'm not sure it's a conscious worry, more of a fear of a physical reaction. So not sure how I could make myself just not worry. If it were that easy I'd have done it already lol.

I guess I will have to see what they say at my appointment. I still feel skeptical but these stories are giving me some hope.

@Dollycarton81 I'm guessing homework will be different for everyone. For the first few weeks I had to keep an activity diary and rate Mood, pleasure and achievement. Now I have to keep a note of strong negative emotions, the situation, automatic thoughts and then analyse the thought and form a response.
Having someone else read all that is hard, but I'm finding the process really helpful to identify when I'm having negative thoughts and how to counteract them.
It also helps highlight other issues in my life and where my anxiety stems from so we explore that a lot in sessions too.

I was referred for CBT about 15 years ago after repeated bouts of clinical depression and a total mental breakdown. I didn't find it useful in any way at all in terms of relieving the depression or providing any insight that I didn't already possess, but it did help me to realise that I owed it to my partner to be more open and honest with them about my illness.

I don't have a spiritual side at all, so I find Mindfulness techniques a load of nonsense, and talking therapies a bit pointless, but the CBT certainly wasn't harmful. The psychoanalysis they referred me for later on though was another story. Complete waste of 18 months, nothing remotely close to what they had described beforehand, a completely inscrutable therapist with no discernible humanity whatsoever, and a laughably inaccurate report in the aftermath. I was fuming, because given what I know now it was wholly inappropriate to refer me to them in the first place, never mind what a total waste of time it was.

CBT was of very limited use to me, but I've heard others say it worked wonders. I think it depends a lot on your particular conditions and whether you're amenable to talking therapies in the first place.

It’s not really working for me. I cannot do the ‘write your worries down and think about them at a specific time’. I can’t stop worrying and it’s pretty constant.

I think much of it is me because I am so anxious that I can’t focus on things much. I also think the webform that you complete each week needs revamping for this time. A lot of it is about socialising and doing hobbies and going out to pubs and restaurants, all of which have not been possible recently.

I know what is causing my anxiety and if it goes away, I will feel better. I’m pretty fed up of being this miserable and not seeing an end to it.

I've just started CBT for agoraphobia brought on by loss of baby ds and other things. I'm finding it very tough at present but like my telephone counsellor so will stick with it.
Difficult with 3 other dcs and 2 hyper dogs but we manage! I self referred from a number given by my gp.

It worked for me.

You have to commit to taking it seriously.

Yes, it changed my life. In the space of several months I went from housebound for roughly a decade to fully recovered and working full time.

You have to put the effort in though; you have to do the work. You need to do exactly what they tell you no matter how awkward/uncomfortable/embarrassing.

It’s not a matter of going there and getting them to fix you with CBT, it’s them giving you the tools to fix yourself. If you don’t follow their instructions, you won’t get better.

I had 18 weeks via IAPT who my GP put me in touch with. It was very hard going but very worth it. My anxiety was completely debilitating. I didn't drive or go in a shop for 4 years and was in a very bad place. I am now in a much better state of mind and can drive and do all the things I couldn't before. I did have to wait 6 months for a place but I don't think I would have got better without it.

Was amazing dealing with my ex. Very validating. I was given tons of home work to do between sessions. Fast result too. It's very issue focused rather than global I've found.

Bloody awful! Had one session for antenatal depression. I poured my heart out, counsellor told me to create a worry box and leave any worries in it. Her parting advice was that my anxiety originated from work so I should consider leaving my job. She then packed me off and offered no more sessions. It was so traumatic. I don’t think I will ever seek counselling again.

Stompythedinosaurwhat sort of 'homework' should I expect? I'm not great at mindfulness techniques (I've tried) so if it's things like that I might struggle. But I will try my best.

It depends on your situation, but keeping a mood diary or a thought diary are quite common. Sometimes doing surveys or carrying out behaviour experiments (so maybe trying something that is tricky and then recording your experiences).

Your therapist would support you in doing it, so don't worry.

I had it for dealing with a phobia and found it very helpful - partly because I was quite ashamed of my phobia and the therapist helped me understand how much shame I was carrying and it wasn’t my fault. And also because it gave me very clear coping strategies and addressed some of the issues head on.

However I have friends who have done it for more generalised anxiety and they didn’t get as much out of it. I wonder if it’s a better tool for dealing with quite a specific issue like a phobia, rather than general anxiety and depression. With the phobia we could very much focus on that and break it down, but I can imagine if you have many sources of anxiety and it’s harder to localise - it might not work with the model.

But then everyone is different, it works very well for some and not as well for others so it’s hard to predict. But I think it’s always worth a try.

Successful story here.

I had CBT as during my counselling for puerperal psychosis (severe PND) I found I could be 100% honest with the counsellor I was given. I had seen psychologists since I was 12 years old due to what would now be classed as ADHD.

What I had refused point blank to admit was that since that age 12, I suffered from Trichotillomania - a hair-pulling disorder. By the time I started CBT I was 32 years old so had been keeping my behaviour a secret for a long time.

It started with counselling sessions and worksheets which were very straightforward, focusing on why and how my hair-pulling occurred. I would focus on changing my routines depending on when it was most likely to happen. I had hypnosis sessions with the goal of teaching me to relax, eventually, I was trained to relax myself.

Now at the time, I wasn’t 100% sure this was working. But I have to tell you, 12 years later and I haven’t pulled at my hair since. Think I had one episode when on the same day, my dog and grandmother died. I still use some of the techniques I learned now when something is causing me anxiety. I can’t begin to tell you how glad I am that I was given this support and only wish I had found a supportive counsellor earlier to have saved me years of grief.