Posted by fallsfall on December 27, 2003, at 18:05:33
In reply to Re: CBT or psychodynamic?...how do you know, posted by Speaker on December 27, 2003, at 16:33:55
I did 8 1/2 years of CBT. I am good at analyzing and organizing and intellectualizing. So the CBT made me feel really comfortable. I learned some great coping techniques, and when and how to apply them. These techniques allow me to be so much more in control of my life.
But there came a point where I felt like I needed to "go deeper". Sort of like my therapist wanted me to "decide" that a particular feeling wasn't helping me, so I should "change" it. Somehow, this doesn't work for me. I don't seem to be able to change my feelings even if I think that it would be logical to do so. I felt that I needed a different approach - one that would use my intellect less (because I think that I often "think" too much). My CBT therapist was not able to do that with me.
I switched to a Psychodynamic therapist (actually, he follows Kohut's Psychology of the Self). With him I do find that I am able to reach deeper inside me, to see what is really causing the reactions that I have. We've only been working together for 6 months, but I have seen things that make me believe that this will be a more effective therapy for me than CBT would be at this point.
That said, though, I don't know that I could have started with my current therapist. I was so out of touch with my feelings and how to survive despite my feelings. I think that I would have crashed if I had to face the kinds of things that I'm facing now without the coping techniques that I have.
So, for me, I think CBT was very important when my therapy started, but I think that the Psychodynamic strategy is more helpful for me now.
P.S. You will see some negative things from me on this board about CBT. These arose late in my CBT experience and have been very painful. I think that my therapist made some mistakes, and I think that I had (have) some unreasonable expectations of therapy, myself and the world. But I do not think (and I hope I never say) that CBT is not useful - it clearly is. I do think that both CBT and Psychodynamic therapy have weak points. I guess which you would benefit most from depends on where those weak points match up with your needs at this particular moment.
poster:fallsfall
thread:293462
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20031221/msgs/293833.html