Author Topic: CBT vs counselling  (Read 4265 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline bassists_kick_ass

  • 18+
  • Gold Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 302
  • >{Jenny}<
CBT vs counselling
« on: September 10, 2015, 07:05:18 PM »
Hi everyone,

I was having a discussion with my boyfriend. We have both suffered, and sometimes still feel the effects of, low self esteem. We were talking about different treatments. We have both had both CBT and counselling and have very different opinions on them!

For me, I started with counselling and found it helpful to figure out where my low self esteem came from but then just wanted to do something about it, and I found CBT really helpful in that it gave me practical ways forward.

He's the complete opposite - he started with CBT and found it cold, and he thinks it doesn't address the issues. He then had/has counselling and find it very beneficial because he likes to spend a lot of time going through his feelings, past and present.

I guess I'm just interested in other people's opinions and experiences. At what point do you think it's unhelpful to keep going over the past? Is it possible to really improve self esteem with CBT or is it superficial?

Jenny xxx

Offline pink fox

  • 18+
  • Usually here
  • ***
  • Posts: 960
Re: CBT vs counselling
« Reply #1 on: September 19, 2015, 04:21:41 PM »
Hi, I think it definitely comes down to the individual's issues and also the way you personally prefer to explore them. And also what point you're at in your recovery.

Personally I did try CBT with my psych back in the day, I do think it can be useful in challenging your thought processes but it quickly became clear that it wasn't working for me - I don't know if it was something about how I was in my head in the time, I'm not sure, but in any case I just didn't feel able to engage in challenging my thought patterns because I hadn't yet dealt with the issues that were behind everything. I ended up being uncooperative and clinging to the thought patterns, as I felt that even if they were damaging I couldn't cope without them. So a more freestyle psycotherapy approach worked better for me.

Maybe counselling is better if you have issues you need to explore, then CBT might work better once you're at a point where you're able to challenge your thought processes? Not sure there is a right answer to be honest, just whatever feels right!
Everybody says it's just another decay of the soul, but I know, I'm hopeless.

Pink Fox >> *cat*
  ;D