[wushuduck]

I start cbt therapy for my anxiety and depression in about twelve weeks from now but am really anxious about it for some reason. What happens in therapy sessions? Does cbt help and what do you do?

What were your first experiences with therapy like?

[Blue_Bird]

Hi Twigg, Usually you talk about what's going on in your life, what's bothering you, your history, etc and the therapist tries to come up with a plan and help you discover coping skills to use to try and cope with negative emotions and/or replace negative behaviors. Therapy can take a long time, and it can be difficult at times but it's really worth it. You gain a lot of insight from it. I hope it goes well for you, it's very helpful for a lot of people

My first therapy session was basically going over my mental health history, and making an outline of what the problems are and a plan to work on changing things. That will guide what you talk about in the sessions. It's can be hard to talk to some random person about how you're feeling but after awhile it gets very easy.

[bwkeys45]

CBT has helped me loads! It really doesn't seem like it at first and it can be challenging depending on what you're working on, but it is totally worth it. I take medication in addition to the therapy, which makes it a bit easier. My psychologist gets me to write a lot of things down (my mood, my worries, my sleeping habits, etc.) and then we talk about them in the next session. She's given me coping strategies (thought stopping, delaying OCD urges, visualizing, realizing depression doesn't last forever, etc.) and we've gone to the store to practise ordering food (later on in my therapy, not right in the beginning!). If you have a good therapist, you'll get comfortable with them relatively quickly; they are there to help you and the more you trust them, the faster you can get better.

Cheers!

[wushuduck]

Thanks for the replies, guys

CBT is brilliant and it really does help. Especially for anxiety for me. It is totally worth it, sometimes the exercises seem hard or silly but just go with it, it can only help

It helps........... It helps your therapist buy a new car.

beyond that.....