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by mitjak 2225 days ago
just to throw my hat in, I've found CBT difficult to put into practice. a vicious cycle formed as I increasingly blamed myself for not working hard enough to help myself and buckled under the pressure of completing exercises.

psychodynamic approaches and group therapy had much more palpable impact, as the missing piece I think was seeing and relating to others. not being alone and talking through issues made a world of difference compared to applying what felt like mechanical exercises of CBT.
2 comments
Trasmatta 2225 days ago
CBT definitely won't work for everyone, but this seems like something a good therapist could help someone work through. Self blaming like that is one of the cognitive distortions that CBT should be able to help root out.

I realize that it very likely just wasn't the type of therapy that works for you, just throwing out the alternative perspective for anyone reading this and considering CBT.

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mitjak 2224 days ago
for sure! i feel a lot more capable of applying the self reflective tools of CBT at this point in time. but it really felt like CBT was consistently suggested to me at a point in time when i just wasn't ready. and it took some (difficult) time to understand that there's nothing wrong with me for not being receptive to it.
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Gibbon1 2225 days ago
> vicious cycle formed as I increasingly blamed myself for not working hard enough to help

Something that took me way too long to understand. Beating yourself up for feeling bad makes it twice as bad. A counter argument is negative emotional stress is motivational. My argument is negative emotional stress is one of the crummier types of motivation.

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mitjak 2224 days ago
> My argument is negative emotional stress is one of the crummier types of motivation

i agree. i am jealous of people who find empowerment in struggle this way but insistence on CBT just made me feel more alone. now that I do not feel so hopeless about being able to affect change, i am more able to reach for self-help tools, but i'd argue that it could be dangerous to have it be suggested as the first line of help for someone that's already holed up in self-destructive tools, especially if they lack self awareness.

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