Seek help from the NHS for depression or an anxiety disorder and it’s likely that, sooner or later, you’ll be offered some form of CBT-based self-help. There are face-to-face classes. There are online programmes. There are books on prescription. Then there’s group or individual cognitive behavioural therapy, but in my experience, on the NHS this is still likely to be heavily focused on self-help. Typically, you are taught techniques, set homework, then discharged once you’re making progress with the expectation that you can ‘become your own therapist’ and continue the work by yourself.
When I founded Sirius Project back in 2003, I was a passionate advocate of this type of CBT. It was empowering to take charge of my own recovery and some of the techniques really did seem to make a difference to the way I felt. However, as time has gone by I’ve become increasingly disillusioned with the approach. Although CBT thought records do provide some temporary relief from the symptoms of depression and have been a useful coping skill for me, they haven’t been able to help me recover or stop me from relapsing. Worse, I’ve come to realise that the CBT I’ve had was actually feeding into some of the factors which were making me ill in the first place, such as perfectionism, pushing myself too hard and difficulty turning to others for support. Continue reading
