Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Exposure - Anyone tried?

[stella1988]

Hello everybody!

this is Stella, I have been suffering from anxiety for several years. Some were better some were bad. I am curious to know if any of you have ever tried CBT and exposure as techniques to fight anxiety. And if yes how did it work out for you?

I personally meditate, exercise and do the "nature contact" (in which I just sit and observe nature as a way to relax and connect with the present).

Thank you 🙂

[Alexlisa]

Hello Stella,

Welcome to the forums ☺️ I’m sorry that you’ve been struggling with anxiety for so long. I know how relentless and hopeless it can feel at times.

First I just want to say well done for using such great skills to manage your anxiety. It takes a lot of dedication to commit to working on our mental health through things like exercise and meditation. So, good job!

I think it’s a really good idea that you’re looking into other ways that you can help yourself. I was wondering if you’re working with a psychologist or if you’re planning to do the CBT exposure work by yourself? I’ve done exposure and CBT work, but always being guided by a psychologist. They’ve been helpful to come up with plans and support me while I do the work. Exposure is about doing hard things, so I found I needed some support to keep me motivated, teach me how to challenge my thoughts and troubleshoot when I was stuck.

Exposure work is a regular part of my therapy and I’ve found it very helpful, rewarding, but also very hard. Anxiety can at times feel like it takes away our choices in life and holds us back from what we really want. So exposure is a great way to work towards what’s important to us and live according to our values rather than our fears.

I think the main thing to know with exposure work is that you need to take small steps. Most exposure work involves deciding on a goal and then making a list of steps it will take to get you there. The list will be graded by how hard each step will be, so you work your way up in difficulty, over time. Depending on what your goal and level of anxiety is, it could take months to get there, but if you keep at it, it will happen. The key is to make the steps small and repeat them as many times as you need to. Each step should make you feel an anxiety level of about 6 out of 10 at the beginning. Then you repeat the step over and over until it drops to about a 3 out of 10. Then move onto the next one.

[Alexlisa]

As an example, for me, something I used to struggle with was getting public transport (which involved a train and bus) across town to uni. At the start I couldn’t even walk to the station without panicking. But being able to go to uni was important to me, so I was determined to work on it. I broke it down into about 10 steps:

1. Just walk to the station and stand on the platform then go home
2. Catch a train one stop in a quiet time of the day
3. Catch a train one stop in busy time of the day
4. Catch a train to the city in a quiet time of the day
5. Catch a train 3 stops in a busy time of the day
6. Catch the train to the city in a busy time of the day
7. Catch a bus one stop at a quiet time of the day
8. Catch a bus one stop in a busy time of the day
9. Catch a bus to uni at a quiet time of day
10. Catch a bus to uni at a busy time of day

It took me a couple of months to work my way up the list. But I eventually got there. I got stuck on a couple of the steps for a long time, so had to create some extra mini steps between. But the key is not to push yourself too hard too fast. Yes it should absolutely be uncomfortable and challenging, but you don’t want to flood yourself.

I hope this helps. It’s so great that you’re willing to give it a go. If you can work with a psychologist, at least for a while, I think that would be a good thing. It’ll give you the chance to learn how it works and set some goals. If you visit your GP you can ask for a Mental Health Care Plan which entitles you to 10 sessions per year for free with a psychologist.

Take care,
Alexlisa

[Soberlicious96]

Dear Stella,

Welcome to Beyond Blue, and thanks for your post!

Yes, I too have had a fair bit of CBT over the years, and I too have practiced the 'nature contact' as you called it. For me it helped to bring my mind back to right here, right now, rather than worrying about what may or may not happen in the future. I have found that most of my anxiety has been because my mind is too busy looking at the 'future' and the 'what ifs'. But as a good friend once said to me "Life is about what IS, not about what if."

I find it so incredibly relieving and relaxing to be able to just focus on the present. Another saying I like is that "Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift, that's why we call it the present!"

One day at a time is all any of us has anyway. And there's always the option to reset. 'But how do you reset?" I hear you ask? Well, for me, when I need to 'reset' my mind, I try and either have a quick ten to fifteen minute nap and tell myself I am restarting my day from then, when I wake up from the nap. And if a nap is not possible, then I go to a quiet place and just sit and breathe slowly in and out for a few minutes and tell myself that when I go back out from the quiet space, that this is a whole new moment in which I can purposefully decide to be confident and unafraid.

Maybe easier said than done, and yes it takes practice. But it works for me. There's a lot to be said for the practice and power of positive thinking.

Anyway, that's all I got for now. Take care. xo

[stella1988]

Thanks Alexlisa! Yes, I was thinking to get help from a psychologist, at least to start with. I feel I am already taking challenging decisions and actions, but sometimes I am so tired of being sad and/or anxious that I give up and don't follow up. Thank you very much for your response and help, it's very appreciated.

🙂

[stella1988]

Thank you soberlicious! You know that I was wondering myself in these days why I was napping that much? I feel like I am listening to my body and going into the right direction, I just have to keep going, turn them into a habit and be positive. My anxiety is work related and I haven't been able to change as much as I would like. My mind has been forged to constantly wonder about the future, so it ain't easy to live in the present, but I am slowly getting there. Thank you very much for your suggestions! 🙂