News Article: 'cbt Is A Scam And A Waste Of Money'

[Data]

'CBT is a scam and a waste of money': Popular talking therapy is not a long-term solution, says leading psychologist

• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is the most popular talking therapy
• Oliver James argues research shows it does not have a lasting benefit
• After 5 to 20 sessions those with anxiety or depression appear to recover
• 2 years later they are no different to those who had no treatment, he said
• Says proponents have mis-sold CBT to the Government and policymakers
• He is calling on the Government to fund other types of treatment
• Psychodynamic therapy focuses on root cause of problems, he said

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2828509/CBT-scam-waste-money-Popular-talking-therapy-not-long-term-solution-says-leading-psychologist.html

I mostly agree with the Oliver James's opinions, it has frustrated me for a long time that CBT has been pushed on lots of people, some of which it is clearly unsuited for.

[Threemoons]

Thanks for the info, Data. I had CBT some years ago and found it effective for a short period of time but it hasn't solved my problems.

[Saharah Blue]

I think it has benefits but it doesn't address full on fundamental of re framing your thinking (to my mind) in a long term way that can be recalled when in distress.

I believe that long standing change is is always going to need to have a preemptor (sp?) of hope, otherwise those in distress will be left grasping at straws. I think this is why religion is often a helpful place for people in recovery, not because I think it offers the end all be all of truth, but because it has the ability to offer this type of hope which then allows a place where people can hang on to until they can find their feet.

I suppose it really depends on how much support a person has as well. I can see the logic in someone doing ctb in a high supportive structure; thriving. I can also see how a person with little to no support network continuing to struggle. We all need to learn to ask for help.

Many times I have seen, in my past self, a desire for one or two people to be able to fix or support a whole life time of pain. When in reality the best thing is to learn to lean on many rather than one to help see me through the rough times.

When I reflect on myself, I am often too ashamed to "need", so badly. Instead of learning to spread the support evenly, I secretly hope one person + my T can bear the whole weight, while sparing myself the least amount of shame.

What you write may be true but it doesn't address the importance of learning to take full responsibility for our own wellness. Without a commitment to our own well-being, we can easily look for scape goats to lay blame to why we continue to remain feeling stuck or unwell.

A scam? That reeks of tabloid spin. Nothing, and I mean no therapy is going to be a 100% cure. Perhaps a stepping stone towards recovery would be a better perspective. For those of us that need even the smallest of hope for help to keep going this is not a bad thing.

This site has always encouraged personal responsibility for wellness, I truly believe this which is why I have remained an active member since my dx. Learning & growning and being the person we want to see ourselves be is what is called, "the journey" for many of us.

[guntarded]

There is nothing that Sahara has said here that I can disagree with. Irrespective of the therapy, what is central to the journey is personal responsibility. Something that made me turn my life around when I had BPD in May 2009. I had psychodynamic therapy which helped me greatly; but it was my psychiatrist who was central - he was strict with me; especially when I tried to blame so many things and events on my BPD - I used my past so much as a "get out of jail free card".

Taking responsibility for our actions today, realising we are not at fault for our past; gives us power to change for our future - if we aren't responsible for how we behave now, then we cannot change it. and we will be caught in a never-ending loop of drama to drama to drama.

[PDBPD]

Sahara and Guntarded...full agreement

Steve

[Data]

I have never had CBT, but from what I've read about it, it strikes me as being a 'quick fix' solution. It doesn't sound suitable for personality disorders, severe mental health problems and more long-term issues such as trauma. It probably has a role in treating relatively simple low-level mental health problems. The 'scam' is that it has been over-sold.

We are responsible for our own welfare but sometimes people need help in order to get better and in the UK, the NHS takes some responsibility for that. And they shouldn't shirk that responsibility by pushing in appropriate therapies.

And recovery isn't just about behaviour. Its also about how you feel. Its not a true recovery if you no longer 'act out' but just internalise the feelings. And I don't believe a person is always responsible for how they feel.

[Lily-Bee]

I agree with all of you.

Personally I started therapy when I was 16 and had loads of CBT and CBT like therapies and I worked hard but it wasnt until I got different therapy that involved things like mindfulness and acceptance, living your values, learning to sit with your feelings and to not always take your thoughts too seriously, that I started making real progress. I believe there is more truly helpfull in therapies like ACT and DBT.

I took responcibility early on and that is important but I was given inadequate tools. I dont think thats a scam, I think it was hyped yes and there should have been more studies before it was hailed as THE new therapy, that is wrong to me but I think the intensions where not to fool people or whatever.

I also find like Sahara says that its good to get advice from many different experts/resources as we can take away mostly from each something usefull and all combined we end up with our own toolset and insights that work for us and creates progress.

Im a great believer in self help books, but then I am talking about the more sientific ones not pop psychology.

[addy2]

It's not recommended for personality disorders. I was referred to it for anxiety and argraphobia I thought it was brilliant I would be totally housebound if it wasn't for cbt I sill use it over dbt I found it totally crap and triggering and a waste of time and energy some people think dbt is brilliant but I can honestly say it set me back yrs which truly makes me question my dx. I agree though cbt is a quick fix and it's something you need to be prepared to do for the rest of your life it also didn't take my problems away I still struggle which is why I'm in trauma therapy now but I would never cope with therapy had I not done cbt but everyone is different and suited to different therapies. From what I know of cbt where I live it's mostly used for anxiety and exposure therapy we have different therapies for trauma and other issues :)

[lonelyheartemma]

I liked cbt when I was doing it (and did not like dbt at all) and it wasn't any good once my sessions had ended but I wouldn't necessarily say that makes it a scam. With some illnesses there is a cure, you take your medication or whatever and you're all better but with a long term illness there is no cure. My treatment for my physical problems will probably never end, I'll be taking them every day for the rest of my life. Does that make them a scam because they only make me feel better for up to 24 hours? No it doesn't. I have longterm illnesses and I'll have to take that medication forever, that's just how it is. Depression, bpd and other mental illnesses are also longterm illnesses so to get true benefit from cbt maybe you do have to keep doing it forever.

From that point of view cbt was actually more helpful than my medication. I only went once a fortnight but sometimes the session was enough to get me all the way through to the next fortnight. Other times the effects only lasted for a few hours, it all depended on what happened between me and my mum but usually the effects lasted several days. I don't regret going at all and don't feel I wasted my time, it's just a shame I couldn't continue.

One extra thing I'd like to say is that it's not necessarily just the kind of therapy that makes the sessions a success. The therapist plays a big part. My experience of cbt so far has been good and my experience of dbt has been bad but that might be because my cbt therapist was brilliant and my dbt therapist (who was an online therapist) was awful. (I did also do a little bit of dbt with my cbt therapist and hated it but I definitely didn't do enough enough to judge.) It could be that the most important thing is the person you're working with and how well you click with them which is usually a matter of luck. So even though in my experience cbt works better for me than dbt it might actually be that I got on with therapist A and didn't get on with therapist B.

We are all so vulnerable and when we go to therapy we have to talk about the most difficult and most painful things in our lives, often having to describe feelings and experiences that can't be easily put into words. This makes us more vulnerable. Therapists are human too and no therapist will be right for every client he or she sees. So it's not really surprising therapy is sometimes a failure. That doesn't make it a scam. It just meant the combination of client, therapist and therapy was all wrong and that's no one's fault, definitely not ours. (not saying we're never to blame for anything or that it's never the therapist's fault but a lot of the time it is just bad luck)

[Kitsune]

It's another tool to put in the tool box and any good tool box needs a varied and comprehensive range to adapt to different situations which is why it's good to have CBT but also as lily said things like mindfulness, acceptance and committment therapy as you said psychodynamic therapy etc. I agree CBT isn't for everyone and other options need to be explored and invested in but it does work for some people. If you have only one tool and use it all the time then most likely there will still be issues which people struggle with when the tool just won't cut it, so people need to be encouraged to use it in conjunction with other things. Bog standard CBT doesn't tend to work for personality disorders, more for co-morbid issues like depression, anxiety etc but there is such a thing as complex CBT which is more heavy duty, it's just difficult to come by.