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Something’s not right

16sundayz
Contributor

CBT

I've been seeing the same psychologist since 2010 and he practices CBT. I really don't think that it's working anymore or maybe it never did at all because my thoughts haven't changed like they are meant to. So I'm wondering if anything else would. I still have the same negative thoughts and behaviours as I did before only now he's thrown into the mix that I dissociate. I don't even know if he does any other therapies until I plan on asking him on the 13th August. Does anyone here do CBT and find it helpful? That it actually works for them? What other therapy could I suggest to him?

11 REPLIES 11
CheerBear
Community Elder

Re: CBT

Hi @16sundayz. Like you, I've been working with the same psych for a long time. I think it can be tricky to see growth and change sometimes when you're working long term on things (not that growth and change isn't there, but that it can be slow and hard to identify at times maybe). Have you discussed your thoughts about whether it is working anymore with your psych?

It might be hard for people to give you ideas of what therapies to suggest trying as we are all so different and different things work for different people. I'm thinking that people here will definitely be able to share what's worked for them though.

I have found the work I've done with my psych incredibly helpful. He practices CBT as his main approach though he uses a lot of DBT (Dialectical Behviour Therapy) tools and practices also. Through this work I've learnt heaps of strategies for coping with difficult emotions and a lot of ways to challenge unhelpful thoughts and feelings. All of that has helped keep me afloat.

Something else I find really helpful is to complement the very clinical work I do with my psych with other, less clinical therapy like counselling. I find counsellors with an 'eclectic' approach often super helpful. When I look for a counsellor I try to find someone with some experience with narrative therapy too as I know that usually feels good to me. My psych is very much on board with this idea and supports me to access counselling in addition to the work we do. A safe counselling space for me can be a great place to untangle, or start to untangle, messy memories that I find I don't do so well in other places/with other people.

Something that both my psych and counsellor have recently mentioned, and I am looking in to now is CPT - Cognitive Processing Therapy. My understanding is that CPT has been shown to be helpful in processing traumatic events and it often uses writing to do that. "Looking in to it" is about as far as I have gone with that just yet though.

I hope the conversation you have with your psych on the 13th is helpful for you. It's good to question what's working and what's not I think 🙂

Re: CBT

Also, I've just noticed this discussion is in the "useful resources" section. I'm wondering whether it might be worth having this moved/asking to have this moved to a section like "Something's not right" as more people might see this and reply that way 🙂
Ali11
Community Builder

Re: CBT

Thanks @CheerBear, we've moved this post into Somethings not right. Having that conversation is a good idea @16sundayz, has your psychologist made mention of the progress you are making? It may be hard to pick up those small wins yourself.

outlander
Community Guide

Re: CBT

hi @16sundayz
i agree with others that maybe havig a chat about your progress would be beneficial and what would be best moving forward..
for me i dont find cbt that helpful, however there are many other sorts of therapies that are avaliable to try out such as dbt, schema therapy, exposure therapy, EMDR, as a few examples.
Eden1919
Senior Contributor

Re: CBT

@16sundayz  Hi for me personally CBT has been absolutely useless it just doesnt click with me and how my brain works, to me it is like yes i can actively think that X is a negative way to think but that doesnt stop the thoughts and it doesnt change my beliefs i just feel like i am lying to myself vs actually feeling a positive change. DBT was more helpful still not a fix and there was a lot it didnt help with but i found it better. mostly it helped me to communicate in a better way which in turn helped me to get more of my needs met. but that is just my personal experience there is also another therapy called acceptance and commitment therapy which you could look into or depending on the problem i have heard good things about EMDR. dont feel bad if one aproach isnt working for you but a heads up not all psychologists are trianed in all therapies so if you really want a particular type i would advise you to seek out someone who specialises in that field for the best chance at it working but again just a suggestion.   

Re: CBT

@Ali11  I wasn't sure where to put it. I'm not really sure but it's something to ask him about.

Re: CBT

@Eden1919I too think in a negative way and it doesnt always stop the thoughts and my beliefs about it so I start thinking badly about myself again. I feel like he's convinced me into believing what he's said about it, just that it's taken 9 years to do so. I've sent him an email asking what other therapies he does because I'll get to anxious over it waiting until the 13th to ask him.

Re: CBT

@outlanderActually those exact therapies were recommended to me at a Mental Health Facebook group I'm a member of so will look them up myself and see which would be most helpful. I was told that EMDR can make you dissociate so I don't know how I'd feel about it but it's worth giving it a try.

Re: CBT

@CheerBearThere has been some growth because he has said that I finally believe something he's said about me but then when I feel like I go backwards, I stop believeing what he's said and be negative to myself all over again. Maybe CPT would work better than CBT currently does and might even be more helpful than CBT has been.

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