Is CBT is not very effective or is the CBT practicioner is not very good? Either way is it a waste of public money?
I have had a course of CBT and really wonder. I just wonder if anyone has had any positive results.
Here are a few things that I was told during the sessions:
- The therapist gave a scenario to show how to challenge your own thoughts: ’A person locks up their car, the therapist fires a ‘thought gun’ at this person to make them think they have forgotten to lock the car. The person then goes back to check and finds the car locked’. This was to demonstrate that worries are not always based on fact. I wonder about this as there are no such things as ‘thought guns’. If however we accept they exist then we can also assume that there are very good ones and therefore why wouldn’t you believe your thoughts? That aside, the scenario assumes that the car owner was in a financial position that allows for the theft of their car? Spending five minutes double checking your car is locked may have high value. If it was happening a lot I did suggest a possible strategy. This would be to have something on your key ring that you could turn around when you have locked your car, then it can be checked at any time in the day when you might doubt you locked your car. Being told to ignore some thoughts because they may be from a ‘thought gun’ is unconvincing.
- Another example I was given was: ‘Two men break their legs. One really liked doing lots of active outdoor things and enjoyed his job, he was very unhappy after the accident and looked at all the negatives. One man liked being off work and enjoyed spending all day playing computer games, he was really happy after the accident and could only see positive aspects‘. I am sure what the point of this example is. If it was to show that two people can see the same thing in two different ways then would it not be the case that the two people should be the same in the first place. To make it work they would both have to have liked doing outdoor activities for example.
- One thing that was suggested was that ‘by doing things you will get used to them’. I understand the logic there, but I still don’t like many social interactions and I am 39. I have tried. My self- confidence is as low as ever.
- He said that aeroplanes were the safest form of transport. I am unsure what statistics he is using but it sounds questionable. It would be important compare the survival rates when an accident occurs on different forms of transport. Also, the routes that are taken and the time of travel amongst other things need to be considered.
