Appointment with new T today

My therapist used a mix of approaches, and he definitely had a behavioral bent at times. It took a long time to internalize those behavioral skills like CBT, but they really helped me with anxiety and depression (particularly the impulsive behaviors I was prone to during severe anxiety and depression).

CBT skills are sometimes the only thing that gets me through those moments of severe anxiety, that feeling of being overwhelmed by whatever is going on. It helped me to frame those skills as a means toward personal autonomy and control - it took a while for me to understand that. By having a means to make choices about how I am perceiving and responding to what is going on, I am able to advocate for myself, make choices for myself, and feel some sense of personal control in times when my emotions would like to be totally out of control. CBT skills have gotten me through many a crisis since I left therapy - they are perhaps the part of therapy I refer to most frequently now because they can be applied to so many daily situations.

I know some people think they are stupid or obvious or fake or something like that, but in my case, they were skills that weren't obvious to me. I didn't naturally know how to calm my thinking so that I didn't go into an anxiety attack or impulsively try to hurt myself to make those emotions stop. CBT skills (and other behavioral skills) can be really helpful for those of us who really do need to directly learn those skills that may seem to natural or obvious to other people.

Give it some time and see if the approach has some merit for you. I've never seen a therapist that was purely behavioral (and I doubt that would work for me), but hopefully this new therapist will also incorporate other modalities and this could be helpful for you. Best wishes.

This is why I like DBT waaaay better than CBT. DBT gets at some of the same things as CBT but in a way that is much more validating. I can actually get on board with following the philosophy without feeling angry and belittled.