Anyone had cognative behavioural therapy?

[poshsinglemum]

I have had a history of mental health problems. I have been thinking about my past and I have made the most disasterous choices with regards to relationships and work. I realise I had low self esteem due to being abused as a child and badly bullied at school. This has had a knock on effect. I have realised I am hopelessly co-dependant too. So now my councellor has put me on the waiting list for cognative behavioural therapy. I can't wait. Is it effective? Please give me hope. Sometimes i think that life is like swimming through treacle. I just don't get it as in many ways I have so many advantages but I always destroy my good fortune.

I suppose it depends who delivers it, how well trained they are and how well written the course is (as well as what you hope to get out of it and how well you and the practitioner communicate with one another) - I had weekly CBT sessions for about 9 months, but I'd been quite unwell and had to wait until my mood had 'stabilised' before my psychiatrist agreed to the idea and referred me to a psychologist

I found it very helpful, not so much at the time but a bit later in life when I began to draw upon it - officially it went down as a disaster according to the psychologist

I had it to help me get my head round my diagnosis (bipolar disorder) and to accept the need for treatment and to learn how to track changes in my mood - up to then I'd been clueless and was always the last to know when I was unwell, so I resisted any sort of intervention or medication. I think it's played a big part in helping me develop some insight into my own state of mind. We used 'Overcoming Mood Swings' by Jan Scott, who also treated a friend of mine.

CBT,a talking therapy.cognition (thoughts) how you process and think about situations.behaviour how you react/behave to your individual stresses

your GP can refer too.like all therapies is effective for some but not

you need commitment to it,as it is practical and you need to prepare for sessions and practice techniques

also the
Improving access to psychological therapies initiative ask your gp. new govt initiative eing delivered in pilot area.check whether you are eligible

Hi there, Thanks for your replies. I think I am definately going on the list and I am totally committe dto it as I can see that I need to make many changes. Now I have a dd this is even more important to me whereas before I just kept drinking to shut it all out. Now I am no longer drinking and there is no more hiding.

very best of luck with it

I found the CBT sessions I had very useful indeed.

I found having something practical to do about how I felt rather than waffling on to someone about things that had happened (as had happened in general counselling) is helping with my general depression. Also realised that may problem is anxiety which manifests itelf in depression when I don't sort it out. Knowing I have the power to stop myself from getting really bad has helped me a lot.

I was told about this website which I know others have found useful.

Hi poshsinglemum,

CBT has helped me enormously to make changes in my life. (Lots of them!): marital, career, boundary issues, social anxiety, anxieties about my children, my health,intrusive thoughts...!

I knew I needed to make changes but I didn't trust my own instincts. I was unable to make a decision and go with it.

Also, because CBT is practical (you have homework experiments to get on with) I found that my self-esteem improved very quickly. What I am trying to say is that you don't have to feel worse before you start to feel better as in some other forms of therapy. I had sessions for about 9 months - it sounds a long time but I had alot of long-term anxieties and to deal with. Hope you are seen soon.

I think CBT may or may not be useful, depending on the frame of mind that you're in when you're having the therapy, as well as how good the practitioner may be.

I had CBT around 7 years ago now, when I was very suicidal, self-harming lots and generally all over the place. I didn't particularly trust or feel that I was able to open up to the therapist, so for me it was simply a case of going through the motions, doing the practical work involved, drawing charts and trying to see patterns, but I really didn't feel it did much for me.

Recently, though, I've gone back into therapy and am finding my current sessions to be far more useful and insightful than the CBT was. It could be that I've been stable, mood-wise, for around 5 years now and that I'm approaching therapy whilst not being in a crisis. So, essentially, I think CBT can be beneifical, depending on certain variables that are going on at any given time.

Sounds good. I'm not expecting a quick fix but anything is better than going round and round in the same old circles.