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Is 8 sessions 'normal' for cbt treatment?


Guest Saz

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Hi all I asked my therapist how many sessions do I have and she has said 6-8. I feel like this really isn't a lot to be honest and feel a little let down. Not let down by my therapist as she's lovely and its not her fault but just the fact you are limited to a certain amount of sessions. She said I can always go back to gp and be referred back but would be to a different therapist who does hour long sessions of 20 sessions. It's took everything for me to open up to this lady and couldn't do that again but to think I only have four half hour or so sessions left when I'm just getting started has kind of got me feeling down and worried I won't be better by then :(

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Guest joe_123

It does seem to vary, I only had 6 sessions with my local IAPT service back in 2011. When she said "oh, the next session is the last" I was pretty shocked as I really hadn't managed to understand/communicate my problems. She did seem to pick up it was anxiety related and she basically said you can refer again if you are still struggling but of course, that means going back on the waiting list...

She was very helpful and understanding, but I got the impression the service was struggling and they probably had too many people to be able to offer longer sessions

It's very frustrating as when you get referred again there is a period of getting up to speed again with the new therapist I imagine.

If you haven't already I would tell the therapist what you have said here. Maybe some others here can offer some more advice.

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Get the most out of the sessions you have. Do the best you can. You will learn some stuff that will help you. If you do end up going to a different therapist, you will find the courage to start over with your story. You did it once. You can do it again.

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One bit of advice is that be ready and open minded by their approach as it will help you get the most out of your sessions. It took me about 3 sessions to come clean about the reality but once i did it made the whole thing a lot easier. Sometimes when your really ill you aren't in a position to accept the treatment, you simply don't want it.

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Thank you guys.

My therapist said to me that I shouldn't worry about just having 8 sessions and just concentrate on now and trying to get better. She is right and I told her I will try so hard.

In regards to opening up polar I really am not sure I could do it again, especially after reading about that poor lady in oz. I can't take anymore chances. To be honest I've had excellent advice, encouragement and support from you guys and now my therapist, so if I can't do it now I never will! X

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You are not going into this cold Saz.

You already know from us what you need to do; its applying that , accepting that you can't have certainty and cutting out all the compulsive behaviour where you need convincing.

Since our collective thinking is based on a number of people' s experiences and their therapy, it seems unlikely your therapist will come up with some major new approach - however I am hoping she finds something to tweak to enable you to buy into probability instead of certainty and stop carrying out the damaging compulsions which keep you stuck.

Roy xx

Edited by taurean
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Saz yes it does vary from people to people of course,I would think 6-8 sessions although can certainly be very helpful& you go through quite a bit especially if there is a bit to work on yes may seem quite little :original: .I think maybe see if you could perhaps do something whatever you can if you can see your Therapist again? maybe something can be done you never know.

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You are not going into this cold Saz.

You already know from us what you need to do; its applying that , accepting that you can't have certainty and cutting out all the compulsive behaviour where you need convincing.

Since our collective thinking is based on a number of people' s experiences and their therapy, it seems unlikely your therapist will come up with some major new approach - however I am hoping she finds something to tweak to enable you to buy into probability instead of certainty and stop carrying out the damaging compulsions which keep you stuck.

Roy xx

In summary, I think whether there is 8, 12,20 or whatever number of sessions - I think until you overcome OCD's demand for certainty and accept and come to terms with the small element of doubt, and stop all the damaging compulsing which led to you being badly spooked in another thread, you will most likely remain stuck.

To me therefore these are the key problem areas that the therapist may be able to help you come to terms with, and it might be best to draw to her attention so no available time tackling them is lost.

At the end of the day,we all have to acknowledge it is US who must carry out the behavioural changes in order to get better.

Roy xxx

Edited by taurean
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Mr roofing work is a good example of the benefits of stopping compulsing.

On day one a week ago I had a real set of fears. I wouldn't like the workers, they would damage my new drive, the roof would leak while they were changing it.

I dealt with these fears by;

Bonding with the workers

They explained how they do the work to deal with the threat of water ingress

We worked together to draw up risk protections to safeguard my drive.

Result - I immediately stopped ruminating and compulsing trusted them and my anxiety re the roof fell away.

Edited by taurean
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I will be trying really hard Roy, that I can promise. Instead of looking at the negatives of this, ie, short amount of sessions, I will look at the positives which is the fact I have a lovely therapist, she reminds me of what I think gingerbread girl would be like if she was a therapist lol.

I did get spooked by that thread the other day but now I've calmed down I see it as irrational and worst case scenario thinking.

Thank you to everyone else for replying to me too and advising me, I appreciate it x

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