CBT doesn't really work for me. I am a really clear thinker (my profession has taught me that) and so don't really need help with changing my thoughts. My problems lie elsewhere (more on the feeling side of things), and I have found the eclectic approach of my therapist to be just right (humanist/systems/psychodynamic/gestalt with EMDR for past trauma).

I did have a previous counselor who used some CBT. I thought some of her suggestions for dealing with the symptoms of my depression were good, and did help me feel somewhat better (such as getting my sleep problems under control), but she did not have the tools necessary to help me really get to the root causes of my depression, which was necessary for me to finally conquer it. I always felt a bit that by focusing on superficial symptoms, she was just applying a bandage to a wound. My current therapist was actually interested in healing the wound.

I look back on my time with these two therapists and think maybe I came to them in the right order. I used the first counselor for some CBT stuff getting me kind of back on my feet again with the depression. Then I had a break from therapy. And then I found my current T and was stable enough to be ready for some deep and painful work to deal with my real problems. I sometimes wonder how therapy would have been if I had originally just gone to my current and wonderful T and skipped the limited but helpful CBT lady?

I think once a person realizes a certain therapeutic approach is not a good fit, a talk with the T could maybe get him/her to switch to an approach that fits better. If that is beyond his/her capability, the T could give some referrals to professionals with experience in other approaches. On the other hand, studies have shown that the effectiveness of therapy is due to the relationship with the therapist rather than the exact approach, so if the relationship is good enough, maybe it can help surmount the CBT if it is not the best fit for a particular person.