# What do you do exactly in CBT?



## mcmuffinme (Mar 12, 2010)

I've had therapists do this weird **** like saying soothing crap to me and telling me to relax in the dark, or asked where in my body specifically i felt tense- which all seemed very hoaky and unscientific. is this what cbt is supposed to be?


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## Mr. SandMan (Aug 24, 2007)

CBT is different ideas of handling your thoughts.

If you mess something up, instead of saying things like, 'oh I'm worthless of course I would fail.' They try to help you by putting ideas like, 'well I messed that up, but next time it won't be as bad.'

They will try to help your regular thought process. 

It's easy to think negetive, it's hard to think positive. << That was the quote that kindof sunk into me *shrugs*

Good luck though : )


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## RetroDoll (Jun 25, 2011)

sit around listen to someone telling u to redirect/control your thoughts except u can't actually do that.


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## Matt J (Oct 19, 2006)

So its what any clinical psychologist would try to do? This is standard practice.


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## foxy (Jul 3, 2010)

what is cbt, i have had it an still dont know :no


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## ambergris (Oct 15, 2010)

CBT is all about dismantling your negative thoughts in a logical, dispassionate way, while conveniently ignoring the fact that positive thoughts are just as illogical and easy to deconstruct. It's only interested in dealing with the symptoms of mental distress rather than the causes, so if you don't want to talk about your childhood traumas it should suit you fine.


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## jimity (Jan 12, 2011)

When you do cbt, you are expected to learn the connection between thoughts, emotions and behaviours. 

Then you are expected to keep a diary of negative thoughts that you experience before and after social encounters that activate your anxiety or bad moods.

You will then try to challenge those thoughts with more balanced and realistic ones until you finally feel a shift in the way you feel about the situation. If, for example, you thought people were all staring at you, you might realize you didn't even look to see if they were. This would obviously be a thought not in line with reality and you would go about corrcting it by writing down something like "how can I know people were actually looking at me?... I didn't actually look".

Positive thoughts must be based in reality. The self help books will show you how to do this and will give examples to give you an idea of what to put on paper.

After getting a collection of many thoughts, you go through the thoughts and see which ones keep comign up more and more, as they represent your underlying roots of your anxiety. Then you must go about changing them first through cognitive work and then behavioural testing to see if you thoughts are infact based in reality.

CBT works quite well at managing anxiety but only if you are really willing to put the effort in and are willing to take some risks and force yourself in situations to find evidence against your negative beliefs and assumptions. If your anxiety stems from character traits such as shame, dependency or approval seeking, expect a comeback of sa after a while when you stop doing cbt.

I think the therapy is over rated for social anxiety and can seem too mechanical and kind of robs the whole human experience from emotion. Real cure for sa come from meeting one's emotional needs.


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## Ohhai (Oct 15, 2010)

mcmuffinme said:


> I've had therapists do this weird **** like saying soothing crap to me and telling me to relax in the dark, or asked where in my body specifically i felt tense- which all seemed very hoaky and unscientific. is this what cbt is supposed to be?


That certainly doesn't seem to be what either of my CBT therapists did, they usually try to get you to take small steps, trying to get to the root of your anxiety, then trying to give you advice in ways to calm yourself, telling you things that you need to watch out for, and usually telling you that you have to start of small like going to the shop with friends, and then going to the shop without friends, then build up to your goal, whatever that may be, it'll usually make you uncomfortable to be doing these things, but if you keep doing them they'll hopefully get more easy to do, then you can move onto the next big thing.


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## RockBottomRiser (Jun 5, 2011)

Am i missing something? How is CBT supposed to change one's negative thoughts?


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## bson1257 (Jun 20, 2011)

CBT sounds like bull **** to me.


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## jimity (Jan 12, 2011)

RockBottomRiser said:


> Am i missing something? How is CBT supposed to change one's negative thoughts?


when people talk about social anxiety and mention cbt as a therapy, they are normally refering to cognitive-behavioural therapy.... funny guy.


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## jimity (Jan 12, 2011)

bson1257 said:


> CBT sounds like bull **** to me.


It might sound like bs but when you pick it up, you will notice it actually works to reduce anxiety when you use it.


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## foxy (Jul 3, 2010)

*dyslexic foxy*

when i did cbt , i actually wasnt has bad as the other 11 people ,Some of them that numb the couldent speak, an constantly ran to the toilet. some thinks were told like going to the supermarket , go in for as long as you can without s***ing yourself , an keep doing it longer every time till you feel know anxierty. Not one patient bar me managed it while on the course. I was there just to try any theropy that may help.But what they were teaching was not my anxierty, i can go in shops an bars an leave the house. But i stayed an to see how the other.s faired . By the way i was the only male in the group , men dont seem to want to go on the cbt course. Anyway 2 week were canceled with theropist ill so did 6 weeks an learned sweet FA. The others complained it wasnt long enough,an after 6 week i hour sessions ,your out the door an on your own.


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## cellophanegirl (Sep 21, 2009)

Okay, so I read everyone's posts here, and I still don't understand what CBT is. How is this different than regular therapy?

Also, an explanation of what happens in CBT therapy shouldn't start with "Well, CBT is all about..." I don't want a general overview of the philosophy of CBT, I want to know exactly what happens when you show up for your therapy sessions. I've asked a number of people about this, and for some reason no one can seem to get past just a vague synopsis of the concept of CBT. 

So please, you walk in the door at your therapy session, and then....?


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## JimmyDeansRetartedCousin (Nov 28, 2009)

In my experience, cbt dealt with addressing damaging core beliefs, finding out what my safety/avoidance behaviours where and consciously avoiding them.

It took a long time to get to any worthwhile point, but at the end of it I could comfortably eat in public places, voice my professional opinions and I felt a lot better about myself.

Maybe I bought into it and maybe it isn't all it claims to be, but in my opinion the impact of positive thinking is a profound thing that you can't really put any static scientific value to.

Work hard, cut yourself a ton of slack and try and stay posivtive.

And don't dicount it before you try it. "it is impossible to teach a man what he thinks he already knows"


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## foxy (Jul 3, 2010)

cellophanegirl said:


> Okay, so I read everyone's posts here, and I still don't understand what CBT is. How is this different than regular therapy?
> 
> Also, an explanation of what happens in CBT therapy shouldn't start with "Well, CBT is all about..." I don't want a general overview of the philosophy of CBT, I want to know exactly what happens when you show up for your therapy sessions. I've asked a number of people about this, and for some reason no one can seem to get past just a vague synopsis of the concept of CBT.
> 
> So please, you walk in the door at your therapy session, and then....?


 They ask everyone there problem , intruce yourself to the group, discuss thinks like why you carnt do things like go to the supermarket, then they say just try going through the door first, next time into the shop an out , next time walk round the shop ect ect ect. like tricking your mind into into doing things you dont like. You take home homework on your progress an discuss that at the next session. Not one in my group ever bought back homework. Thats how bad it was. If you do it on a 1 to 1 basis an pay megga money for it you may get progress ,or just an empty wallet :um


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## millenniumman75 (Feb 4, 2005)

RockBottomRiser said:


> Am i missing something? How is CBT supposed to change one's negative thoughts?


By learning to react differently to what you see. Think around what is causing the panic - the situation is usually different than the way we see it.


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## jimity (Jan 12, 2011)

cellophanegirl said:


> Okay, so I read everyone's posts here, and I still don't understand what CBT is. How is this different than regular therapy?
> 
> Also, an explanation of what happens in CBT therapy shouldn't start with "Well, CBT is all about..." I don't want a general overview of the philosophy of CBT, I want to know exactly what happens when you show up for your therapy sessions. I've asked a number of people about this, and for some reason no one can seem to get past just a vague synopsis of the concept of CBT.
> 
> So please, you walk in the door at your therapy session, and then....?


that's probably because most people are thinking of self help cbt, that you do by yourself and thought that was what the OP wanted to know; what it involves... not what to expect when they walk into a cbt therapy session. The OP mentioned things which didn't seem apart of cbt.

but if you go to a therapist, when you walk through the door and you'll take a seat and tell them your problem and they'll explain the concept of the therapy you have chosen to undertake (the part your not interested in knowing). Because cbt is more of a practical, mechanical-like, hands on therapy than regular therapy (I don't know what that is... care to explain what I should expect if I walk into a regular therapy session?), they have to explain it. You will tell them your thoughts about why you are afraid and they will point out other ways of seeing things differently. Then you are given homework to do, which is do things that you are too afraid to do. You then report back to the therapist your progress. This is what will happen when you walk through the door.

My advice, do self help first, if you get stuck go see a therapist to help you out more. That way you'll save a heck of a lot of money and will progress much faster when you do decide to see one.


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## cellophanegirl (Sep 21, 2009)

jimity said:


> that's probably because most people are thinking of self help cbt, that you do by yourself and thought that was what the OP wanted to know; an overview of cbt and what it involves... not what to expect when they walk into a cbt therapy session.
> 
> but if you go to a therapist, when you walk through the door, they'll say "hi" or "hello" and you'll say "hi" or "hello". You'll take a seat. You'll tell them your problem and they'll explain the concept of the therapy you have chosen to undertake, because cbt is more of a practical, mechanical-like, hands on therapy. You will tell them your thoughts about why you are afraid and they will point out other ways of seeing things differently. Then you are given homework to do, which is do things that you are too afraid to do. You then report back to the therapist your progress.
> 
> My advice, do self help first, if you get stuck go see a therapist to help you out more. That way you'll save a heck of a lot of money and will progress much faster when you do decide to see one.


I'm already seeing a therapist, but she's not like a CBT specialist or whatever. I really am not on board with the idea of "learning to see things differently." I am aware that anxiety causes people to see things in a skewed and inaccurate way, but I don't really know how you can change these thoughts by "thinking differently." I think it's more important to just realize that they are inaccurate, and try to push through despite what your brain is telling you. However, I do like the idea of homework, because I feel like a lot of times therapy is just a lot of narcissistic whining about your problems, and I think that therapy that actually forces you to take action is much more useful in helping you change your life.


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## RockBottomRiser (Jun 5, 2011)

millenniumman75 said:


> By learning to react differently to what you see. Think around what is causing the panic - the situation is usually different than the way we see it.


Oh. Interesting...


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## foxy (Jul 3, 2010)

cellophanegirl said:


> I'm already seeing a therapist, but she's not like a CBT specialist or whatever. I really am not on board with the idea of "learning to see things differently." I am aware that anxiety causes people to see things in a skewed and inaccurate way, but I don't really know how you can change these thoughts by "thinking differently." I think it's more important to just realize that they are inaccurate, and try to push through despite what your brain is telling you. However, I do like the idea of homework, because I feel like a lot of times therapy is just a lot of narcissistic whining about your problems, and I think that therapy that actually forces you to take action is much more useful in helping you change your life.


 On a group course ,do you honestly think they read all the homework , :no:no:no


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## ambergris (Oct 15, 2010)

OK, this is what would happen at my CBT sessions:

The therapist would ask me to rate my current mood out of ten, then we would talk for a bit about why this was and what had gone well or badly for me since the last session. Then we would talk about my success or otherwise in doing the homework. Homework would generally be one or two specific tasks such as making a phone call, making a list, practising whatever technique we learned in the last session, etc. Then he would talk though some other technique, such as how to do a thought record, we would decide what my homework would be, and then I would go away. Apart from a couple of pointless breathing exercises it was all very focused on getting me to do stuff like studying or volunteering and dismiss any negative thoughts which were stopping me from doing them. Unfortunately it was unable to convince me that there was any actual _point_ in doing them.

Actually the most useful thing about therapy for me was being forced to leave the house and talk to someone. The therapy itself was not especially well-suited to my particular set of issues.


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## cellophanegirl (Sep 21, 2009)

ambergris said:


> OK, this is what would happen at my CBT sessions:
> 
> The therapist would ask me to rate my current mood out of ten, then we would talk for a bit about why this was and what had gone well or badly for me since the last session. Then we would talk about my success or otherwise in doing the homework. Homework would generally be one or two specific tasks such as making a phone call, making a list, practising whatever technique we learned in the last session, etc. Then he would talk though some other technique, such as how to do a thought record, we would decide what my homework would be, and then I would go away. Apart from a couple of pointless breathing exercises it was all very focused on getting me to do stuff like studying or volunteering and dismiss any negative thoughts which were stopping me from doing them. Unfortunately it was unable to convince me that there was any actual _point_ in doing them.
> 
> Actually the most useful thing about therapy for me was being forced to leave the house and talk to someone. The therapy itself was not especially well-suited to my particular set of issues.


Thank you.

What's a thought record?


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## jimity (Jan 12, 2011)

The thing about therapy for me was that I would simply do the homework just to make the ***** happy, so that she wouldn't get upset with me.


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## ambergris (Oct 15, 2010)

Thought record = basically writing down your negative thoughts and deconstructing them in order to destroy their power over you, rather than turning them over and over in your head and letting them mutate into other negative thoughts.

If you don't already obsessively self-analyse then this can be useful; you identify what is making you feel bad and vanquish it with the power of logic. If your problem is that you already think too much then it's less useful, mainly because it's encouraging you to think even more. As such, CBT is great for treating easily identifiable issues such as fear of public speaking or agoraphobia, less great at countering existential angst.


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## ambergris (Oct 15, 2010)

jimity said:


> The thing about therapy for me was that I would simply do the homework just to make the ***** happy, so that she wouldn't get upset with me.


This too. I am such a freaking people-pleaser that as we neared the end of the sessions I felt it was my duty to tell the therapist what he wanted to hear i.e. I'm all better now! I'm going to go out every day and restart my thesis and look into doing voluntary work! while not entirely believing any of this stuff myself. The homework model kind of pushed me back into school mode, and my entire school career was an exercise in telling teachers what they wanted and getting rewarded with A grades.

I mean, it wasn't like the NHS was going to give me extra sessions if I _wasn't_ better, and it wasn't like extra sessions were going to make any difference anyway, so I might as well make the man happy and let him chalk me up as a success.


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## foxy (Jul 3, 2010)

ambergris said:


> This too. I am such a freaking people-pleaser that as we neared the end of the sessions I felt it was my duty to tell the therapist what he wanted to hear i.e. I'm all better now! I'm going to go out every day and restart my thesis and look into doing voluntary work! while not entirely believing any of this stuff myself. The homework model kind of pushed me back into school mode, and my entire school career was an exercise in telling teachers what they wanted and getting rewarded with A grades.
> 
> I mean, it wasn't like the NHS was going to give me extra sessions if I _wasn't_ better, and it wasn't like extra sessions were going to make any difference anyway, so I might as well make the man happy and let him chalk me up as a success.


 I think most walk out of the last session saying WTF was that about:yes


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## CopadoMexicano (Aug 21, 2004)

All i did was sit on my azz listened to some ccbt tapes and my thought patterns started changing/


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## jimity (Jan 12, 2011)

ambergris said:


> This too. I am such a freaking people-pleaser that as we neared the end of the sessions I felt it was my duty to tell the therapist what he wanted to hear i.e. I'm all better now! I'm going to go out every day and restart my thesis and look into doing voluntary work! while not entirely believing any of this stuff myself. The homework model kind of pushed me back into school mode, and my entire school career was an exercise in telling teachers what they wanted and getting rewarded with A grades.
> 
> 
> > I was always saying "thankyou" and asking for reassurance and apologizing for everything I thought I did wrong in therapy. I think fixing the people-pleasing and approval seeking part of myself would work far better than a whole year of doing cbt.


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## emptybottle2 (Jan 18, 2009)

ambergris said:


> OK, this is what would happen at my CBT sessions:
> 
> The therapist would ask me to rate my current mood out of ten, then we would talk for a bit about why this was and what had gone well or badly for me since the last session. Then we would talk about my success or otherwise in doing the homework. Homework would generally be one or two specific tasks such as making a phone call, making a list, practising whatever technique we learned in the last session, etc. Then he would talk though some other technique, such as how to do a thought record, we would decide what my homework would be, and then I would go away. Apart from a couple of pointless breathing exercises it was all very focused on getting me to do stuff like studying or volunteering and dismiss any negative thoughts which were stopping me from doing them. Unfortunately it was unable to convince me that there was any actual _point_ in doing them.
> 
> Actually the most useful thing about therapy for me was being forced to leave the house and talk to someone. The therapy itself was not especially well-suited to my particular set of issues.


Same here to all of this.

Does anyone here do role-playing exercises or going out to do exposures _with _your therapist (such as approaching strangers to ask a question and making small talk with store clerks)? I've done these a few times and have said no nearly every time my therapist brings it up, because it just feels so artificial and more awkward than it would be in the real social situations. I'm curious about how effective these have been to people here.


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## RetroDoll (Jun 25, 2011)

bson1257 said:


> CBT sounds like bull **** to me.


it is and it don't work. it's a waste of fu*king time


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## John316C (May 1, 2011)

the hoaky stuff is actually the therapists own attempt to introduce further methods of creating a greater impact. if it bother u ask to stop. however it has veracity and is very similar to hypnosis which is not some hoaky thing u see on the TV. if you resist however u wont reprogram your thoughts as strongly as you may like. the fact that your resisting tells me you need to overcome your bias, learn a bit about it and youl see it has probably the biggest impact on your wellbeing - that is reprogramming the subconcious mind something that you arent likely to accomplish unless you know about it. whenever you are presented with something that may work, give it a go... take this example i used to bench press 265 and i did it just out of curiosity to see how far i could go without paying attention to any detail, movements, food ratios, etc.. when i lifted the weight i felt weak, extremly weak i could not even feel my arms. if i cannot feel my arms then i can not know how to control them very well. yet i still could lift all that weight and multiple times. the subconcious processes are actually causing most of the movement and my concious will is only handling the intention. if i would immediatly pay attention to my movements the angle of the bar etc.. i would immediatly loose control and pot. hurt myself. so let go of your bias and whatever u were getting will work for you. but if the therapist is waving his/her hands around like a magician id get a new one , i dont think u have to worry about that though


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## foxy (Jul 3, 2010)

johnseibert said:


> the hoaky stuff is actually the therapists own attempt to introduce further methods of creating a greater impact. if it bother u ask to stop. however it has veracity and is very similar to hypnosis which is not some hoaky thing u see on the TV. if you resist however u wont reprogram your thoughts as strongly as you may like. the fact that your resisting tells me you need to overcome your bias, learn a bit about it and youl see it has probably the biggest impact on your wellbeing - that is reprogramming the subconcious mind


 I think its down to trusting the theropist. Most of them are nobs:yes


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## beagleman (May 27, 2011)

Look I did vwery simple cbt and it has worked. I can socialise with most people. But my core beliefs, for example I will never get better, I am worthless, etc, I dont know why but my psychologist has not helped me with these. The solution is from me I know. I have tried many things to build self esteem but I cannot keep hold of it. i am confused and dont really know what to do in life. Last time I said to my psychologist please tell me some news no matter how bad, I will do anything to stop my major depression which clearly has overtaken my sa. I had to repeat a phrase in my head mmm - The life of no one story thanks mind. This does not really work, I am struggling abit to maake sence. Please anyone with cbt exercises, help.


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## sleepytime (Feb 18, 2011)

CBT felt like a form of brainwashing to me. I would happily be brainwashed to believe only positive thoughts, but I find it hard swallow statements that in my opinion are always biased towards the positive regardless of the facts. I preferred the ACT approach to dealing with negative thoughts much better. 

CBT works for some people obviously, but I recommend for the people who hated CBT (like me!) to check out ACT.


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## IvyAndRoses (Sep 4, 2011)

I was wondering what CBT was too. This doesn't sound like it'd help me more than another person said about getting out and leaving the house. I swear, I need like a kindergarten socializing class on how to do it properly and not offend people.


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## foxy (Jul 3, 2010)

Basic CBT is someone telling you , it up to you to sort yourself out. There is nothing wrong with you only a little self belief . WELL if its that easy WTF did i come to see you then.:yes


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## Weird Fishes (Feb 2, 2011)

I never showed up ... both times.


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## jimity (Jan 12, 2011)

cognitive behaviour therapy works only if you have social anxiety disorder and no underlying poor character traits and extreme temperamental shyness and anxiety.


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## ambergris (Oct 15, 2010)

sleepytime said:


> CBT felt like a form of brainwashing to me. I would happily be brainwashed to believe only positive thoughts, but I find it hard swallow statements that in my opinion are always biased towards the positive regardless of the facts. I preferred the ACT approach to dealing with negative thoughts much better.


I second this. CBT wants us to transform our thoughts into positive ones regardless of the fact that a positive belief can be irrational, and a negative belief can be an accurate reflection of reality. I can come up with positive interpretations of an event with no trouble, it's getting me to accept that they are somehow more valid than the negative ones that's the problem. It's all just mind games. When it comes down to it, I'm going to believe what my past experiences have taught me is most probable, and that's usually not good.

ACT, on the other hand, simply encourages you to treat your negative thoughts in the same dismissive way as you currently do your positive ones, and not to fret about whether they're 'true' or not. This is better for those who already think about things too much than telling them to think even more, as CBT does.


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## jimity (Jan 12, 2011)

ambergris said:


> I second this. CBT wants us to transform our thoughts into positive ones regardless of the fact that a positive belief can be irrational, and a negative belief can be an accurate reflection of reality. I can come up with positive interpretations of an event with no trouble, it's getting me to accept that they are somehow more valid than the negative ones that's the problem. It's all just mind games. When it comes down to it, I'm going to believe what my past experiences have taught me is most probable, and that's usually not good.
> 
> ACT, on the other hand, simply encourages you to treat your negative thoughts in the same dismissive way as you currently do your positive ones, and not to fret about whether they're 'true' or not. This is better for those who already think about things too much than telling them to think even more, as CBT does.


I believe cbt is more suited for those who are in a positive environment or who have had loads of positive experiences in the past or those very mild social anxiety or people who have just lost their confidence or a very specific social anxiety, such as public speeking or eating in front of others. If you pick up a book by David Burns, he makes people believe things are so very easy and you will probably have fun along the way in getting over your fears. If you look at his paitents and what he made them do, many examples hardly seem plausible. For example, he made one of his paitents walk on over to a woman and point out to her his sweaty armpits (he was terrified people would laugh or ridicule him for it) Then David goes on to describe how the woman was captivated (or something along the lines of that) by him and then they were suddenly involved in a deep conversation and he got her number.... what a croc!

Cbt encourages people to engage in further cognitive activity, when what they really should be doing is reducing all this unnecessary activity. If you feel inferior, you must find evidence against this thought. But why bother in questioning your inferiority in the first place? What if there is no evidence against the thought? What if you can't believe the positive thoughts you have against that negative thought? What if you find you really ARE inferior? The most powerful part of cbt therapy is attentional control (which actually belongs to metacognitive therapy, which has become a standard part in dealing with social anxiety) Cbt often likes to make people believe things that may or may not even be true. And if you go to therapy, many cbt therapists just expect their clients to be able to develop instant rapport with them, and are willing to learn new ways of coping with their fears. Cbt expects people just to simply be able to access their cognitions and feelings but many clients can't do this because they have become out of touch with their own cognitions and feelings. And many people experience a return in symptoms 6 - 12 months after they think they have been cured. I did cbt and it did work and has allowed me to do basic things like working but I still have terrible anxiety and I still drink and take drugs to cope with this anxiety.


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## puffins (Mar 9, 2011)

......hm, for me its been great! It's working rather well, i mean, consider this. A year ago i was trapped in my room because i was terrified of even talking to my roommates, NOW i have a VERY social job. Me and my therapist talk about things that bother me, she gives me examples on how i can change my mindset on those things and then little "homework" assignments (at first it was things like, go to the grocery store but dont buy anything, then the next week, go to the grocery store and buy one thing).


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## Positive (Jun 29, 2009)

how much does this cost? 

it trains u, and conditions you in a certain way. a lot of people do not give this a genuine shot, so its hard to really jduge. it can take some time, kind of like how u are able to sing the alphabet song. a few years to condition.


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## ShadowLand (Aug 16, 2011)

bson1257 said:


> CBT sounds like bull **** to me.


It is rubbish! I tried it and the psychologist gave up before I did.


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## Cisco (Mar 2, 2007)

ambergris said:


> CBT wants us to transform our thoughts into positive ones regardless of the fact that a positive belief can be irrational, and a negative belief can be an accurate reflection of reality.


Oh, you nailed it! :yes

This is exactly why CBT never felt right to me. I can make a case for any belief both ways, and don't know which one to give more weight.


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## DK3 (Sep 21, 2011)

mcmuffinme said:


> I've had therapists do this weird **** like saying soothing crap to me and telling me to relax in the dark, or asked where in my body specifically i felt tense- which all seemed very hoaky and unscientific. is this what cbt is supposed to be?


I was seeing a shrink for a few months and we did some CBT but I didn't have much time with her to fully explore it.

It was basically exercises like going to the store, or going to a cafe, and she would ask me to write down how I expected it to be, what fears I had and what could go wrong, which I would have to read out to her. Then she would say, I want you to imagine it goes perfectly and none of that happens, now write down how you feel it would be if everything went fine..how would you feel? Then after reading that to her, she would send me off to the task, going to the shop to buy something or going to a cafe for lunch, and then I'd have to focus on my feelings while I was there and remember the good outcome and how to deal with any fear or anxious feelings. We did some exercises to deal with that and she would say, if you feel any anxious feelings or start to hear the negative voice, use your mental "toolbox" of things we've developed. Like telling yourself you can leave at any time if you get uncomfortable, telling yourself nobody is looking at you and you look absolutely normal. Breathing slowly and doing something to distract attention etc.

I'd have to write down how the task went and then compare to the worse and best outcomes I'd written down before and do a rating on how I felt it went. Each task she would give me would get progressively more challenging. And when I did them she would be very praising and pleased which would give me a confidence boost.


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## foxy (Jul 3, 2010)

she seemed to care , which is a bonus for a theropist . I could see that helping you if she was with you most of the time. Was it the money that made you stop:|


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## tigerfox (Mar 19, 2011)

I'm still doing therapy. 

I am yet to feel any amazing relief from the SA but it has given me a more rational side to my thoughts. My therapist wasn't trying to get me to be positive per se, but was trying to rationalise my fears to me.

For example when I explained how fearful I was that I would faint due to a panic attack, she broke it down for me medically and explained exactly why this is almost impossible in most cases. She has also tried to teach me not to engage with rumination and negative thoughts but like everyone says, it aint that easy to control. There are other things like not focusing on your body when you feel anxious and focusing on the outside environment instead which have helped a little. I'm still pretty much afraid of everything though!

I'm just going to see it through to the end, there's not much else left to try.


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## foxy (Jul 3, 2010)

tigerfox said:


> I'm still doing therapy.
> 
> I am yet to feel any amazing relief from the SA but it has given me a more rational side to my thoughts. My therapist wasn't trying to get me to be positive per se, but was trying to rationalise my fears to me.
> 
> ...


 I used to pass out with anxierty an panick attacks , an they said to me thats not possible. I said even i can see my brain is shuting my body down to protect it from damage.:um


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## tigerfox (Mar 19, 2011)

foxy said:


> I used to pass out with anxierty an panick attacks , an they said to me thats not possible. I said even i can see my brain is shuting my body down to protect it from damage.:um


I have to admit that I was still sceptical when my therapist told me this. I find it hard to believe everything I am told because even I was convinced that at some points I had fainted due to panic. I do try to go with the rationalisation though if I can in case it provides me with an alternative way to go in future.


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## evginmubutu (Sep 12, 2011)

I have to first say that you are beautiful ^

I think behavioural therapy misses the point of anxiety. It is not about changing your thoughts, it is about observing them. If you can come to the realization that you are not your thoughts, you immediately feel liberated in a way. If you can just become aware of your thoughts then there is no need to change them. Because this is just placing a second veil in front of your eyes instead of the first one. The way I do this is to look at something beautiful, like today I thought the clouds were arranged in a special way. Try to completely eliminate your mental commentary and just be completely present and observant. The mental turbulence is the problem that is afflicting you so just try to be completely still and aware. I know this is a lot harder to do in reality.


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