Positive CBT stories/success stories.

[SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius]

I have just had the sixth of eight CBT sessions. I think things are going well so far - we've gone into some pretty painful and stressful things from my past, and I've made some realisations about my past and about the way I react to things now that I think are good, and I am learning new ways of relating to younger me and to myself now.

But I am worried that my years of depressive thoughts, lack of self esteem and I grained habit of unkindness to myself (the therapist actually said it hurt her heart to hear how unkindly I speak to myself) are going to take more than a few weeks of CBT to overcome, and once the therapy stops, I will just slip back into my old, bad habits.

So if anyone feels able to share their stories of how CBT worked for them, and especially how they maintained the improvements when therapy finished, I would be really grateful indeed.

Needy bump for the evening crowd.

Hi I have not had cbt, but I thought the idea was to teach you tools so that you can manage things yourself, rather than talking about the past. Definitely friends who had cbt said the aim was to teach them skills to manage their thinking patterns and behaviours. If you wish to have more therapy you may get another block, or group therapy or find a charity or private options?

If I have understood right, it is mainly CBT with relevant bits of other therapies too. The thing about my past is a way of getting in touch with the hurting 10 year old and the equally hurting teenager inside me, so I can understand how they affect me today, and so I can hopefully understand their pain but react to it as an adult.

It also brought up a lot of anger, and I am to take that energy and turn it into something positive - it's to spur me on to achieve something that will make me feel better/happier now - if that makes sense.

I have checked my policy, and I think I can extend the therapy, if the therapist thinks I need it, and the insurance will carry on paying (I know this makes me very lucky indeed).

I got nothing from it except an increase in anxiety. Your therapist actually sounds really similar to mine. I quit abruptly at the sixth session.
I'm glad yours is proving more useful for you.

If you find it helpful and can extend it then that is a simple answer. May be a good idea to have an idea of how many sessions as there comes a time when some people find too many sessions counter productive ( as unable to cope without it) - why not ask your therapist how many more sessions could do a set piece of work or help you in the way you want? I found when paying for sessions it kept me focused - what do I want out of it, how will I know when I have got it?