# Bada



## bonniei (Jan 25, 2001)

I post quite a bit but how come you have never discussed a single idea with me?


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## trbell (Nov 1, 2000)

I guess I'm a litte gun-shy. Discussions on the bb seem to degenerate into ego battles about who is right, and this is supposed to be a self-help and support bb. I do support your efforts to understand CBT.How is that going?Bada


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## trbell (Nov 1, 2000)

Actually we could discuss your review? I thought it was very good. i don't understand your putting down psychotherapy though as CBT is a type of psychotherapy. i use it myself with most clients and I think these days most psychologists do.Bada


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## bonniei (Jan 25, 2001)

Ah gun shy? Yes if one is attacked that could bring it about. About the book review, thanks! My psychotherapist hasn't used any cognitive therapy as far as I can tell. Even in my illness with the communications with the TV, his approach was to completely believe in what I was saying. You would think there is ample scope for challenging distortions in a delusion. It had its merits, don't get me wrong! But at the expense of tremendous anxiety for me. I feel a lot of the anxiety that my delusions created could have been better managed through cognitive therapy. He never once challenged my thoughts about anything. My husband did but not at a deep psychological level of the underlying beliefs behind my delusion. My regular psychotherapist just made my delusion deeper. Luckily meds helped me out. And I actually went to a cognitive therapist and the only advice he could give was for me to ignore my delusion like I ignore talk about wearther when I wish to and then said he couldn't help me. The CT books have helped me deal better with the feelings caused by the delusions. Perhaps I just didn't have a competent psychotherapist?


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## trbell (Nov 1, 2000)

No, therapy of any kind can't do a lot with delusions except tell you to ignore them and suggest medication, usually. At least your therapists didn't make unrealistic promises?Bada


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## bonniei (Jan 25, 2001)

You are wrong about that, Bada. There is an entire book written about delusions and cognitive therapy by Aaron Beck which gave me a great insight into how the problem should have been tackled. David Burns helped me understand A. Beck and for that I have you to thank because you told me about Burns.


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## trbell (Nov 1, 2000)

I thought you were talking about delusions like paranoid delusions and other schizophrenic thinking. If cognitive therapy helped you probably are talking about distorted thinking and not about seeing things that aren't there?I'm glad you liked the book. I usually recommend it to most of my patients.Bada


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## bonniei (Jan 25, 2001)

The name of the book is Cognitive therpay for Delusions, Voices and Paranoia. It says it is ultimately about self-self evaluations. And bringing these out can help the patient manage their symptoms better. No I did not lose that much touch with reality as to hear voices which were not there or see things which were not there. But who would care about these voices and sights if the patients were not bothered by them. Self-Self evaluations are very crucial in understanding why the delusions bother the patients.


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## Guest (Aug 12, 2003)

Based on my experiences, I still think that biology is the root of most of the trouble, and I've experienced an incompetent therapist.Evie


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## trbell (Nov 1, 2000)

sounds like an interesting book, bonniei.Bada


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