Cogntive Behavioural Therapy - Your Experience

[Digger.]

Apologies for such a non-PH style thread, but may as well take advantage of the pool of experience out there in the often murky land of PH'dom .

I am in my mid to late 30's. In essence my life has so far (in my own eyes) been a waste of one, and a disaster for various reasons (excuses). Yes thats my negative thinking on display right there, in that one sentence.

Quite simply I'd like to hear from any of you guys and girls who have managed to turn their life around, and maybe CBT has played a part?

I make no apologies for posting this. I just want to get a handle on (my) life, take control, and hopefully, finally. . .gain some direction, set some goals, start to achieve, and above all gain some feeling of self-worth!



Yes Yes I will break in my back doors and nuke myself from orbit if I knew how to. . .but maybe not relevant?

[cazzer]

Did you miss blaming it on the french?


I think most of us lead the kind of lives that don't amount to that much mate.
Just be nice to people. Don't cause to much grief. Hope people think highly of you when you've gone.

[DrTre]

Kind of off topic, kind of not but a word of warning just in case anyone was going to google image search for "CBT" with safe search off....don't do it at work.

..Or in front of the other half...

..Unless you're into that sort of thing.

As an aside, it'd certainly modify my behaviour...

[Astacus]

Digger. said:

Apologies for such a non-PH style thread, but may as well take advantage of the pool of experience out there in the often murky land of PH'dom .

I am in my mid to late 30's. In essence my life has so far (in my own eyes) been a waste of one, and a disaster for various reasons (excuses). Yes thats my negative thinking on display right there, in that one sentence.

Quite simply I'd like to hear from any of you guys and girls who have managed to turn their life around, and maybe CBT has played a part?

I make no apologies for posting this. I just want to get a handle on (my) life, take control, and hopefully, finally. . .gain some direction, set some goals, start to achieve, and above all gain some feeling of self-worth!



Yes Yes I will break in my back doors and nuke myself from orbit if I knew how to. . .but maybe not relevant?

CBT is apparently very good. What can I say? I am told it works but takes some effort and staying power. If you think it will help make sure you find someone good, your Doctor will be able to recommend someone.

[Maxf]

I see you are in W1 as well. Funny place round 'ere - no matter how well you are doing in life there are hundreds within the immediate area who are doing multitudes better - it doesnt mean you are failing though. Stop measuring yourself against others is the fastest way to find happiness. Now I just need to follow my own advice

ETA I know a really good 'coach' nearby - not cheap but very well recommended.

Edited by Maxf on Thursday 26th February 23:38

[Mobile Chicane]

Short answer: no experience (no matter how bad) is wasted if you've learned something from it.

Slightly less short answer: phrases such as "...I just want to get a handle on (my) life, take control, and hopefully, finally. . .gain some direction, set some goals, start to achieve, and above all gain some feeling of self-worth!..." mark you out as a candidate for the Scientologists.

Hope that helps.

If you're serious, go to your GP and ask for a referral to see a Clinical Psychologist. However unless you're prepared to undertake this privately, there will be a considerable waiting list, plus appointments are usually in working hours.

[Brown and Boris]

I have no direct experience except I used a CBT psychologist to help me write some material using CBT techniques top address distorted thinking patterns on a project I am working on.

I understnd the stidies have shown it can work well for certain thinking patterns, such as phobias and self esteem. They even do a 'CBT for dummies' book which I bought and as i recall it uses anxiety examples. I hear there is a new version called something like nano CBT which focuses on more macro level thoughts and feelings

[Uhura_Fighter]

You want this


amazon shop

The dummies one is obviously basic but a good start if you want to look into it.




I can recommend CBT, not for everyone though

[Digger.]

Maxf said:

I see you are in W1 as well. Funny place round 'ere - no matter how well you are doing in life there are hundreds within the immediate area who are doing multitudes better - it doesnt mean you are failing though. Stop measuring yourself against others is the fastest way to find happiness. Now I just need to follow my own advice

ETA I know a really good 'coach' nearby - not cheap but very well recommended.

Ignore and forget the W1 (need to change to NW1), and an expensive coach. I feel I have never got to a position where I can "fail". Trust me when I say I feel inferior to even those that many PH'ers would ridicule!

[Digger.]

Uhura_Fighter said:

You want this


amazon shop

The dummies one is obviously basic but a good start if you want to look into it.




I can recommend CBT, not for everyone though

When you say not for everyone, as someone who now tends to over-analyze things, I cant help but think that I will again over rationalize CBT and convince myself that it is not for me.

[Glassman]

cazzer said:

Did you miss blaming it on the french?

...blame it on Eboué

[Digger.]

Am i wrong to feel empathy with the janitor in Scrubs?

[elster]

I went to see a CBT as part of the mental health team, yes I was classed as a nut.

I have to say they didn't do a great deal for me, however others I have met have said they have helped a lot.

[Uhura_Fighter]

Digger. said:

When you say not for evryone, as someone who tends to over-analyze things, I can't help but think that I will again over rationalize CBT and convince myself that it is not for me.

In that case I am glad I could help

[Benni]

Hi Digger,

I can recommend it, was feeling the way you are, except that I WAS st........
(Bad) joke aside, in my case it was substance-abuse/overuse and depression,
although even the experts are uncertain what causes what, hen and egg-style.

I was lucky to come across a therapist (wd?) who was very patient with me first,
because I had sooo many "reasons" to justyfy my feelings and (non)deeds.
He then gradually nudged me into thinking and talking about my past, present & future,
and although some sessions were hard work for both of us, it was worth it,
I dropped some bad habits that had cost me lots of money and friends,
changed my self-attitude, do not carry the world on my shoulders any more
and helped me to get along with myself.
(Or maybe I am just an ignorant cynical git now ?)

Whatever, one of the main things about CBT is that the counselor does
about 5-10% of the labor, the rest had to be done by me.
I cannot point to a certain moment where "it just snapped into place",
feeling better was a graduent thing.
I found some interesting and informative pages, this one for example,
by one of the founders of CBT :
http://www.beckinstitute.org/InfoID/220/RedirectPa...

HTH, really,
Benni

[Digger.]

Benni said:

Hi Digger,

I can recommend it, was feeling the way you are, except that I WAS st........
(Bad) joke aside, in my case it was substance-abuse/overuse and depression,
although even the experts are uncertain what causes what, hen and egg-style.

I was lucky to come across a therapist (wd?) who was very patient with me first,
because I had sooo many "reasons" to justyfy my feelings and (non)deeds.
He then gradually nudged me into thinking and talking about my past, present & future,
and although some sessions were hard work for both of us, it was worth it,
I dropped some bad habits that had cost me lots of money and friends,
changed my self-attitude, do not carry the world on my shoulders any more
and helped me to get along with myself.
(Or maybe I am just an ignorant cynical git now ?)

Whatever, one of the main things about CBT is that the counselor does
about 5-10% of the labor, the rest had to be done by me.
I cannot point to a certain moment where "it just snapped into place",
feeling better was a graduent thing.
I found some interesting and informative pages, this one for example,
by one of the founders of CBT :
http://www.beckinstitute.org/InfoID/220/RedirectPa...

HTH, really,
Benni

Thanks Benni, very helpful.

I am beginning to think that I will need to visit a clinical psychologist, but initially will go with the flow and revisit CBT, hoping I get a very intuitive and understanding therapist.

[srebbe64]

Emotionally, I went through a very tough time last year - first time in my life in fact! I eventually pulled through it and when I explained to someone how I coped they said that I had applied CBT to myself - albeit unknowingly. It just seemed like the logical thing to do when I imagined myself being a counsellor to myself (if you know what I mean!) As such, I'd recommend it because it's not 'psychobabble' - which I have no time for.

[spikeyhead]

DrTre said:

Kind of off topic, kind of not but a word of warning just in case anyone was going to google image search for "CBT" with safe search off....don't do it at work.

..Or in front of the other half...

..Unless you're into that sort of thing.

As an aside, it'd certainly modify my behaviour...

I can recommend some of the countries leading practitioners in the art should anyone need further info on that form of CBT.

[srebbe64]

Los Angeles said:

Hi Srebbe! I noticed you using PH to post topics on a myriad of domestic subjects ... I wondered what was happening ...

Hi LA long time no speak - I'm in possibly (depending on loads of stuff) your neck of the woods next week (assuming your not in bonnie) so I might call you up for a if I'm on the west coast - fly to NY on Sunday, possibly west coast on Thursday(ish)! Are you around?

[ShadownINja]

Is CBT relevant for what you need?