Cbt Does It Work ?

[Fusion5]

My sister has been advised by her gp to have a course of this, she is a bit sceptical. What does it involve and does it work.

[emmie]

it can work, i have done a course or two, makes you see things that were not apparent, also can make you sit back and evaluate why you do things, and sometimes repeat the same mistakes, its a bit hard to explain but it might work for some and not others, just like any time of counselling. try it and see, one thing if you don't like it you don't stay.

[emmie]

sorry typo, any type of counselling, suggest she gives it a go, scepticism lives in all of us to a degree, trying something different, but i would still do it.

[Fusion5]

Thank you emmie for your quick response. I think why she is hesitant, is that I had several months of CBT and was quite disappointed with the results.

[emmie]

as said can work for some, you also have to give it more than a few months, it depends also if one has full time work as that can be somewhat problematic with time off, but if she is in work, has a decent boss, then i can't see them not allowing an hour a week say... tell her to give it a try,
i can see the mistakes i make and try and not do it again, of course that doesn't mean to say it always works, but you have it in your mind when going through a bad time, and remember just what you discussed, personally i preferred one to one time, not a group cbt.

[Fusion5]

I paid privately for my CBT, but found all this therapist did was get me to keep notes of how I felt everyday, and practise deep breathing. He never really gave me any practical advice.

[jim360]

My own experience of CBT is that it wasn't very useful but that's partly because its central theme seems to be that people don't always understand why they think what they think. I would say go anyway though, because even if your sister does know what's causing her problems it can still be a major help to talk about it to someone else. And even talking about a problem can help you sort through it.

[Fusion5]

Thank you Jim.

[Wak]

I wasn't sure what CBT meant so looked it up on Google and found this if it's of any help to others.

http://www.getselfhelp.co.uk/cbtstep1.htm

[ladyalex]

At the end of the day, what CBT involves is the person having it changing their behaviour, including their thoughts.
Whether it is successful or not depends on many things including the skill and expertise of the therapist, the willingness of the patient to participate and whether or not, for whatever reason, it is the right time for the therapy to happen.
Sometimes people have to be at 'rock bottom' whatever that is for them, for them to change.
It is unlikely to do any harm as if people do not find it helpful, they tend to stop going for treatment.
They do, however, have to actively participate for it to work.