Why does cbt not work for me

Some advantages and disadvantages of the approach are listed below. Advantages of CBT Can be as effective as medication in treating some mental health disorders and may be helpful in cases where medication alone has not worked.

Can be completed in a relatively short period of time compared to other talking therapies. Focuses on re-training your thoughts and altering your behaviours, in order to make changes to how you feel. The highly structured nature of CBT means it can be provided in different formats, including in groups, self-help books and computer programmes.

Skills you learn in CBT are useful, practical and helpful strategies that can be incorporated into everyday life to help you cope better with future stresses and difficulties, even after the treatment has finished. I still struggle with mindfulness and interpersonal effectiveness though.

My issues relating to others and feeling truly safe with them led me to another great type of therapy: schema therapy. Schema therapy relies on these core principles:. This therapeutic style relies a lot on trauma work and attachment theory. Right now, this is the therapy style that is most beneficial to me. Figuring out if therapy is working for you is tricky. And in the meantime, check out some of the resources I linked above, they might be a huge help.

If this was a helpful guide to CBT and other alternative therapy schemas, let me know in the comments below. What kinds of therapies have you tried? Are you thinking about starting therapy? Do you want to share your story? I die and it hurts the entire time. I die, it hurts the entire time, and my loved ones suffer in the process. I know how awful it was. The feelings are a product of experience, not catastrophizing. My reframed thoughts felt like lies.

There are other issues with CBT, too. For this reason, your insurance company is likely far more willing to pay for CBT… and not much else. The underlying premise of cognitive behavioral therapy is that your thoughts influence your behavior and mental health.

If your therapist hammers at that to the exclusion of other factors, you could be missing a big part of the picture. One of them proposes that executive function shuts down when anxiety gets too high. Some people are able to engage their cognitive techniques before this occurs. In those cases, your brain needs to rely on automatic self-soothing mechanisms that trigger relaxation via the parasympathetic nervous system and the release of oxytocin.

I still had medication, so that was helpful, but not as helpful as it could be combined with therapy. And I lucked out. I get things to read and homework to do that have helped me grow, not feel like a failure for being unable to think my way out of a panic attack.

I feel like a person, not like a disjointed cloud of thoughts that need to be corrected. My panic attacks are less frequent and easier to deal with, and I can recognize the signs of an impending bout of depression and take steps to make it less disruptive to my life.

There are plenty of other therapies out there that can help. They might take longer, you might have to try a few different things out, but they work.

View all posts by J. Thank you for writing a realistic article on CBT not working for everyone!