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Hi, I was just wondering if anyone could give me some advice. I was in a 22 year abusive relationship, which I finished about 3 years ago. I feel that its time for counselling of some kind, to help me move forward from all of this, and hopefully put the past behind me.
After speaking to my doctor, I had a first appointment with health and mind, which was just to check what help I need. To cut a long story short, they explained to me that the councellors can only help on a basic level, and that they thought I would therefore benefit more from cognitive therapy. They explained that this deals with now/today and not the past, and helps me to find ways to cope/improve etc. So I am on the waiting list for this.
However Im not so sure that this is what I need. I feel that this has all been buried down to long, sometimes giving me flashbacks, and has taken away all my confidence and made me very timid. When I applied for counselling, I felt it was time to deal with it, and speak about my ordeal.
Has anyone had cognitive therapy? Does anyone know if it helps? Any advice appreciated :)
Hi help me now and welcome to One Space.
I tried the counselling first and was lucky to be able to get two lots of 6 weeks, the first lot left me feeling in a better place but brought lots of questions which is why i went looking for further sessions.
I then had CBT which helped with issues that were effecting day to day life, this way of doing it worked well for me, but as Louise has said this kind of thing is not "one size fits all".
Do let us know what you decide?
Hello help me now, and welcome along.
There is no "one size fits all" for counselling. Cognitive therapy is a very "practical" type of counselling. It would look at how you are coping on a day to day basis now and give you tools and techniques to help this. My own belief is that cognitive therapy is more helpful for people that are visually imaginative as many of the tools involve you holding a picture in your mind (for example locking worrying thoughts in a big padlocked chest) I would stress that this is my personal view (although I am a qualified counsellor)
Longer-term counselling, which seems to be what you were originally considering, would seem at first "just to be chance to talk" but would gradually help with how you see yourself and help you to learn to trust again and be more in charge of your own life, but it is hard to get this free or very cheaply as it would involve several months work and so GPs often suggest cognitive therapy as this can be done in only a few sessions and it does show a rapid improvement in day to day life, even though (in my opinion) it does not always look at what lies beneath.
In summary, if cognitive therapy is offered to you then do give it a try but be aware that more work may be required in the future. Good luck!