My therapist's speciality is CBT, but I don't fill out paperwork. The only paper I fill out is my depression questionarre--which I do in the waiting room before session starts.

I think the way I avoid being pushed too hard is to "stretch" in my own way, on my own time. I know my therapist tracks progress by how much I stretch. If I can go in and say that I did so-and-so this week, without her telling me to do it, I think it prevents her from giving me stuff that don't feel like I could do.

I guess this is kind of cheating? I say this because I intentionally choose things to do that are "micro" stretches--things that aren't REALLY that tough for me to do. Maybe I just don't feel like doing them rather than I'm afraid to do them. But I pass them off as "stretches" anyway. Yeah, that is cheating. It's another way I subvert the system.

Another strategy I have is to do the homework she wants me to do...but only as much as I can. If I at least try, it shows I have some respect for her and the work we're doing. It also tells her what my limit is. If I don't do it at all, we never find out what part of the "task" is the actual hurdle.

I don't think CBT is necessarily for "healthier" people. I think it's useful for people who don't want to reflect on the past, though. Not all suffering is due to the past. And not everything in the past needs to be revisited and related to the present. Sometimes there is no "why" behind something. It just *is*. I don't like everything about CBT--especially the more brain-washing aspects of it--but I do like that it's practical and doesn't require an intense imagination or emotional life to work. I lucked out getting my therapist, I think, because I didn't intentionally seek out a CBT.

My therapist does come across as Suze Orman-ish sometimes, and I understand how that would annoy someone who's really really depressed (which I used to be). But sometimes I think I need a life coach more than a sounding board, because I am not very talkative or emotive. It's more about personality than how sick you are, in my opinion.