cognitive behavioural therapy

[ibekirsty]

i havnt posted in a while hehe.

i start cognitive behavioural therapy on the 27th febuary, and im so nervous. my doctor has said i suffer with severe panic attacks and anxiety so shes reffered me to this. in 2011 i went to councilling and it was traumatic, i dont expect it to be easy but they stuck me with a trainee who had no idea what she was doing, i mean she treated me like i was 8. i was just woundering if anybody has been through this process and could give me a heads up on what its like...

lots of love

[Rebecca85]

I have had CBT for depression but it's basically the same thing.

I had to do tasks like identify where my thinking was faulty (eg I saw someone vomit, I'm going to catch it) and identify the mistakes and pick them apart (I don't know why they vomited, it may not have been contagious. If it was a virus it's not airborne, I would need to ingest the particles. My immune system would attack the virus.) and replace the automatic 'OmG I'm doomed' with 'I'm scared, but I'm fine'

For phobias you can also learn relaxation techniques so that when your anxiety levels go up, you are more in control and can lower the levels again. You may want to do some systematic desensitisation, where you are faced with something that makes you slightly anxious (for example someone saying they feel unwell), you relax and show yourself that the situation is safe. So next time you are faced with that situation you won't be as anxious.

[ibekirsty]

I have had CBT for depression but it's basically the same thing.

I had to do tasks like identify where my thinking was faulty (eg I saw someone vomit, I'm going to catch it) and identify the mistakes and pick them apart (I don't know why they vomited, it may not have been contagious. If it was a virus it's not airborne, I would need to ingest the particles. My immune system would attack the virus.) and replace the automatic 'OmG I'm doomed' with 'I'm scared, but I'm fine'

For phobias you can also learn relaxation techniques so that when your anxiety levels go up, you are more in control and can lower the levels again. You may want to do some systematic desensitisation, where you are faced with something that makes you slightly anxious (for example someone saying they feel unwell), you relax and show yourself that the situation is safe. So next time you are faced with that situation you won't be as anxious.

thankyou (-:

[rakastan]

I had to stop in the middle due to financial issues, but I had to make a list of fears, and we tackled them in order from easiest to hardest. My therapist would talk me through the panic, and I'd quickly see how silly I was being, and that I was perfectly safe. Then I'd continue to practice at home. I'm still working on the last things we did, and I'm looking forward to being able to go back. It made a huge difference. I've seen Dr. David Tolin for this problem, and I LOVE him, though for most of my treatment, I've seen one of the doctors that works under him. He has a new book out about treating anxiety disorders. I bought it, but haven't had a chance to read all of it yet. It seems really helpful, and I'm hoping finishing the book will help while I'm not in treatment. Good luck to you. I've found CBT to be a great thing.

[caragilmore]

I've had cbt and I found it extremely helpful I learnt how to control my panic and anxiety attacks. I was fine for over a year, and even survived a pregnancy with no problems but the last few months I've 'relapsed' and I am now gettin more cbt. The only thing I could not do during cbt was watch videos of people v* which is what my therapist wanted me to do. I Do recommend it! Good luck

[ibekirsty]

I had to stop in the middle due to financial issues, but I had to make a list of fears, and we tackled them in order from easiest to hardest. My therapist would talk me through the panic, and I'd quickly see how silly I was being, and that I was perfectly safe. Then I'd continue to practice at home. I'm still working on the last things we did, and I'm looking forward to being able to go back. It made a huge difference. I've seen Dr. David Tolin for this problem, and I LOVE him, though for most of my treatment, I've seen one of the doctors that works under him. He has a new book out about treating anxiety disorders. I bought it, but haven't had a chance to read all of it yet. It seems really helpful, and I'm hoping finishing the book will help while I'm not in treatment. Good luck to you. I've found CBT to be a great thing.

thankyou (-:

[ibekirsty]

I've had cbt and I found it extremely helpful I learnt how to control my panic and anxiety attacks. I was fine for over a year, and even survived a pregnancy with no problems but the last few months I've 'relapsed' and I am now gettin more cbt. The only thing I could not do during cbt was watch videos of people v* which is what my therapist wanted me to do. I Do recommend it! Good luck

thankyou,ive been through the video stage with the counciller, i had to watch about 10 different varietys, im not going to lie its very hard, and it was extremely hard to go back to school afterwards, but it kind of put me 8n the mind set 'if i can watch idos like this i can get over anything', then i 'relapsed' about a week after, so im hoping this will make a difference