# Alternatives to CBT?



## 10PercentExtra

Are there any alternative therapies to CBT? I went through an entire course of it and I'm convinced it actually made my social phobia much worse, not better.

I never found the postulate that thoughts cause emotions to be credible, and lately I've been reading pieces by behavioral economists that assert emotions drive thoughts in a big way, not the other way around. 

Thanks.


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## CopadoMexicano

http://www.schematherapy.com/


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## jr001

I use both CBT and NLP. CBT to identify, then challenge the thoughts/behaviors that cause and contribute to my SA. NLP to help me think more positively about myself and life in general.

Fundamentally, NLP is simply an array of 'thinking tools', all of which you already possess. There's a lot of over-technical jargon out there, most of which is hard to digest and start applying immediately. The book I've to be most useful is 'How to be Confident: Using The Power of NLP'. Although it specifies confidence, it just takes the basics and presents them in an easy to read/apply format. NLP is geared towards immediate application (whereas CBT can be a slower process),

http://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Confide...=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1277637594&sr=1-5

Although I'm only starting with NLP, I still feel CBT is the best way to directly target your SA. In that regard, I've been using 'The Shyness & Social Anxiety Workbook'. It's great, but you'll need to commit to it - particularly the exercises.

Hope this helps, good luck.

** Tip - This may be obvious, but re-reading is the key to absorbing/fully understanding material. I've gone over the same chapter several times in the SA workbook, if only to hammer home what I've already learned. **


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## Russell123

Hey 10Percent - when you say you went through a course, what do you mean? There can be so many variables affecting the outcome of therapy, I wouldn't dismiss CBT out of hand. The relationship between cognition and biology and emotion is very complex, but I believe it works both ways. Also, its pretty common for anxiety to go up at the beginning of therapy.

Personally, I didn't like some of the ideological implications of CBT when I started it years ago ( My therapist had a somewhat limited idea of what a healthy person "looks" like). So I didn't take it too seriously. Later on though, I began to realized skills I learned were pretty useful.

I think of CBT as a set of tools, and they can be pretty effective once they become automatic. That being said, I agree with jr001, you can try out a variety of therapies and use whatever works best for you. 

nlp never did it for me, but I did like the self-hypnosis parts as they got me interested in meditation. I'm hoping to start Mindfulness Based Acceptance Group Therapy this summer, and I'm pretty excited about it. 

Best therapy by far, in my experience, is simple, horrifying, wretched EXPOSURE. And for me that only works when you prepare and have some control over the type of thoughts racing through your brain. CBT is good for that.


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## nickyole

Group therapy has proven helpful. It helps you practice what you learn with CBT with other people that have SA. It's a whole group of people that understand you.


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## wxolue

I'd like to see the studies you are talking about. I believe that emotions drive thoughts. In fact, thats what CBT says. Problem is, you cant change your feelings. You can only ignore them (part of the reason CBT is so hard). Conversely, it makes more sense to change your thinking pattern to work for you instead of just blocking it out.

I can believe a study suggesting emotions drive thoughts. I'd really like to see where they suggest that the thoughts effect feelings theory is wrong.

Sry if im coming off as an antagonist. All of my time spent dealing with my SA has been bent on the belief that my thoughts are the root of my SA. Part of me wants to crusade this theory a little bit.


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## LALoner

10PercentExtra said:


> Are there any alternative therapies to CBT? I went through an entire course of it and I'm convinced it actually made my social phobia much worse, not better.
> 
> I never found the postulate that thoughts cause emotions to be credible, and lately I've been reading pieces by behavioral economists that assert emotions drive thoughts in a big way, not the other way around.
> 
> Thanks.


Lots of people find CBT to be worthless. The people selling it like it more than the people buying it.

I never heard the term "behavioral economist" before but I suspect that what you are referring to is Cognitive Dissonance.


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## antonina

I have found this program http://www.healsocialanxiety.com/
and I like it because it helps people to let go and ease up on perfectionism. It also is not into pressuring people. I feel more positive about it than other things I have tried.


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## DWDLisle

*CBT is over-rated*



LALoner said:


> Lots of people find CBT to be worthless. The people selling it like it more than the people buying it.


Agreed.


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## BuzzAldrin

I found group therapy a lot more useful than one-on-one therapy. 
I had 10 sessions of mindfulness therapy with a group of people with various problems (depression, anxiety, anger management issues etc), it worked wonders for my SA and definitely helped with depression too.


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## Yokes

Attachment therapy, or emotionally focused therapy? any experiences with these anyone?


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## LydiaC

Well im doing psychology and we learnt that CBT was the best method for social anxiety, both group cbt and individual cbt. however it only works if you do it for quite some time, maybe you just haven't been doing it long enough? 

Though i wondered how cbt worked. it's pretty much just showing you how your unrealistic thoughts are unrealisitc and replacing them with realistic thoughts while changing your behaviour.


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## bluenotebooks

Check out Albert Ellis if you ever feel like trying some cognitive therapy again. I find his rational emotive therapy to be a little more philosophical and a little more human than other CBT I have tried.


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