If CBT didn’t work for your anxiety and depression.. listen up! - Clinical Counselling and Shaking Up Mental Health in Victoria, BC Canada.
CBT is the most commonly recommended approach in clinical counselling and psychology for mental health issues such as anxiety and depression.
And sometimes, it works really well!
Yay for those people it works for!
But … if I had a dollar for each time a client has come to me after trying a few other therapists and says “yeah I tried CBT but it didn’t work/it was boring/it wasn’t for me/it felt too clinical” - well… I wouldn’t be writing blogs i’d prob be living in a surf mansion in Mexico somewhere lol.
Here’s my perspective on why CBT doesn’t always work - and why sometimes it actually does more harm than good.
If your family or society does not change..
Therapy progress can be hard, I won’t lie.
But the least we can do is acknowledge the impact of our environment and try other therapeutic approaches - rather than blame ourselves for not progressing.
Our mental health is not all on us.
The quality of our mental health is not all within our control, or our responsibility.
So, don’t beat yourself up if you can’t think positively all the time.
You’re probably just trying to survive, and sometimes that’s enough.
If we are challenging thoughts, working ourselves, trying reaaaally hard to get better and nothing in our environment changes.. it honestly can be really challenging to progress :(
We live in environments and homes and societies that contribute to the things that maintain our mental UNwellness.
This isn’t to say the we should give up. Because there is absolutely hope to live at your fulfilled best!
But it IS to highlight that there is so. much. more that goes into our mental health and wellbeing than just thought challenging, which CBT rests upon.
