Just wondering if anyone has attended CBT sessions for their Schizophrenia, and how they found them - IE what helped, didn’t help and what they entailed etc.
I’m due to start mine on the 23rd of September, and I’m cautious about what could happen as well as the knock-on effect it could have symptom-wise. Typically my demons turn positive scenarios bad and use bad memories to wear me down so I’m more compliant to their hostile requests. I imagine the sessions will focus on establishing a timeline that lead to the foundation of the illness, and then it’s trigger, but aside of that I’m blank on what to expect.
I guess I’m just worried that digging up previous wounds will help fuel the voices to a stronger detrimental effect and cause me more damage than I’ve had to fight off as yet.
We have a series of videos all about CBT for psychosis - I recommend you watch them before you start. Then, please report back on your sessions and share what you learn.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Schizophrenia – Video Series
It was very hard to face some of my past thinking and to work on ignoring the negative…
Trying to turn the mind set to something more positive…
It did trigger some voices and it was hard for a bit… but I did ask my therapist to go slow… and she did…
You can do that… you have the power of input.
Little by little it did get easier… and after that… my therapy started moving more towards coping skills and mindfulness… I feel I have much better coping skills then I used to…
I still need help at times… but I feel stronger then I used to.
Good luck to every one who is going to start the journey.
Thank you for the info and well wishes. I currently have active voices whenever I’m awake, so more isn’t worrying, it’s more-so the ammunition that opening up in CBT could give them - But I guess to better cope and understand the illness I need to uncover the route cause [I have suspicions but nothing confirmed as yet]
I don’t know about every therapist… or therapy structure… but I was taught how to let go / ignore/ over come/ fight back from when my voices decided to play rough.
They did get rough… but I was taught how to deal with that…
If I fight back they fight harder, I can ignore to a degree but after say 6/7 hours of constant abuse I fall weak and lose strength / control and then start to succumb. The aim is to arm myself to fight back without it taking a third of a day to do, or without it draining me entirely to the point of manipulation
I don’t know about CBT with a therapist. I suggest a self-help peer led group called Recovery International. This organization, founded in 1936, was the first CBT group. enter link description here
I don’t really know about cbt but I do know about giving in to the voices, im a very angst ridden person and the voices got so bad for me very recently that I called the police to put me behind bars b because I just couldn’t trust myself anymore.
highly recommend it
have done it for one year and 8 months…
it has helped my sz
ptsd
depression
paranoia
ocd…
it is hard…confronting…worth the pain.
have a good support person you trust, you can talk to…and who can encourage you.
take care
Yes; I had to do the exact same thing in 2002. The lock-up saved me from a(nother) suicide attempt then. I started into CBT in '97, but I was so fritzed (and wrongly medicated) that I got virtually nothing from it then. I tried it again in '99 while I was in the hyper-paranoid “terror tunnel” (again), and it seemed to yank me out of it.
But it wasn’t until I got into REBT (an early and very direct form of CBT) in 2004 that I really began to get some meaningful progress, then Schematherapy and Learned Optimism (more forms of CBT) in '06 and '07.
What is CBT, exactly? The phraseology makes me think it is essentially just talking to a therapist and receiving 1 on 1 counseling. Is that what it is?
I hope to start 1 on 1 counseling soon to leave my pdoc. I have to clear up whether or not my insurance will be accepted, though. I should be starting something like this this year.
@HarveySpecter - I only have one rebellious spirit that harasses me. The rest are protagonists. The antagonist sometimes finds his way to becoming a decent person, though, and has left me alone 99% of the day on most days. Trying to “convert” him to being kind or leaving. Ignoring is the best method, so it seems.