Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) may not be suitable for people with more complex mental health needs or learning difficulties, a report said. As CBT can involve confronting your emotions and anxieties, you may experience initial periods where you are more anxious or emotionally uncomfortable, it added. The report further said that CBT is largely ineffective for the majority of patients.
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Who is CBT Not recommended for?
CBT may not be for you if you want to focus exclusively on past issues or if you want supportive counselling. By making your problems more manageable, CBT can help you change your negative thought patterns and improve the way you feel. CBT can help you get to a point where you can achieve this on your own and tackle problems without the help of a therapist. CBT instills the notion that your faulty or irrational thought patterns are responsible for maladaptive behavior and mental health problems. If one accepts this premise, then some practitioners may dismiss the other factors which play a part in mental illness such as genetics and biology. ‘While studies show that in the short-term – six to 12 months – patients who have received CBT are more likely to report themselves as ‘recovered’ compared to those who have received no treatment, these results are not sustained in the long-term. ‘CBT is largely ineffective for the majority of patients. MindShift CBT is an evidence-based app that uses strategies based on cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) to help you tackle anxiety. In the app, you can try out features including: A mood tracker and thought journal. A chill zone with audio recordings.
Why is CBT not effective?
First, the sort of issues CBT draws attention to – bias, false beliefs, poor inferences – are all relatively common, even in mentally healthy people. As a great deal of psychological research has shown, we are all prone to poor reasoning. She says some CBT principles are outdated, victim-blaming, and can promote toxic positivity. Because CBT assumes that patients’ thinking is false or distorted, therapists may unintentionally overlook issues that the patient experiences. Due to the structured nature of CBT, it may not be suitable for people with more complex mental health needs or learning difficulties. As CBT can involve confronting your emotions and anxieties, you may experience initial periods where you are more anxious or emotionally uncomfortable. Accessibility. A major factor behind the popularity of CBT therapy is its accessibility. Again, the NHS has put a focus on this psychological therapy. According to an article in The Independent, in 2007, the government earmarked a whopping £173m to train an extra 3,600 CBT therapists in the approach.