Discussion Is it just me or is CBT kind of bullshit?

[seizmic_purple]

I do not think that is the point of CBT. The point of CBT is to kick you out of the thought loop that can be formed, often with depression and anxiety. Your brain rewires itself to assume situations are bad or automatically make negative associations out of habit. It is not about "accepting" anything, it is about dissolving a completely false negative association.

The problem is, this method got put in a pedestal as a "cure all" for mental health issues. The world of psychology got caught up in the idea of dispelling this negative thought pattern without addressing how one gets into that thought pattern originally. Hence, what I said earlier. You can teach someone to cope with bullshit in a healthy manner, but humans can only handle so much bullshit until the healthy coping mechanisms are not enough.

I think it is a similar situation as those in physical medicine with chronic pain. A lot of shitty doctors prescribe pain meds but never investigate the actual cause. Pain meds can only do so much if the root cause is never addressed.

This is a great point, and I would like to add on. The question of how effective a modality of psychotherapy can be is really the one of What works for whom, meaning that CBT is more suitable for certain conditions than for others. I would say that dealing with chronic or incurable health illness is not one of them, but it may not be completely useless. I do think that is can be worthwhile to try to change how one thinks and feels about the condition. It is, in a way, a chance to improve the everyday life at least a little bit, given the circumstances. But it has to come with acknowledgement that it is not always possible, and that trying to change the relationship with the condition is not a linear process. Most importantly, one should not feel lectured by the therapist but rather gradually eased into a different way of thinking, if possible.

On top of this, I think people sometimes disregard the fact that not everyone is a good therapist just because they have a degree and a license. Not just in the sense of being suitable for a particular client, but also as a therapist in general. There are bad therapists who lack sensibility or skill, especially the one of noticing when they and their school of thought is not able to help a particular client. I feel like many people quit therapy or change their opinion about it (or about a particular modality, like CBT) because they encountered someone incompetent, and unfortunately, the ''blame'' of failed therapy is too often placed on the clients (who often feel it themselves).

 

[LostLily]

Heard CBT has helped other people but sadly not me. I just left the sessions feeling gaslight and that my experiences and emotions don't matter