# Can CBT make SP actually worse?



## 10PercentExtra (Nov 8, 2009)

I went through a full course of CBT with a clinician/professor at Stanford university. She followed the protocol carefully and seemed extremely competent, perceptive and smart.

The CBT made my SP symptoms better towards the middle of therapy, but towards the end, I started getting worse and worse. 

Now, after completion of therapy, I feel like I am much worse than when I started. By worse, I feel more anxious around people, anxious in situations that we not really a problem before, and more avoidant.

Can this happen, or is there something terribly wrong here? In a sense I feel like the SP was protecting me from something, now that peeled away I am feeling extra vulnerable or something.


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## kc1895 (Sep 4, 2009)

Maybe you should go to back and tell the therapist. They say that CBT is clinically proven to help you get better or at least you'll get something out of it. It sounds like you have some underlying issue(s) that may not be entirely solved with CBT. Like what has triggered your SA to get worse after you got better? I am currently participating in a SA support group, but it hasn't "cured" me yet. I hope you at least learned some things from it and don't give up even if it didn't help you.


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## mistermet (Jan 26, 2008)

i'm still in CBT (albeit starting up in a group setting now) but i actually think that my anxiety has grown a bit since i started too. i think it comes from me now knowing what i am supposed to think and the kind of pressure that puts on me. i pressure myself to use what i learned in CBT and in return, that makes me more anxious in the situation.


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## Sunshine009 (Sep 21, 2008)

It can depending on the skill of the therapist. They have to be "A" rated, okay? Since some of us have problems that no one can help, if we can find them, maybe we need to hire the A-Team.....


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