Here's a letter, Catherine, from a unemployed guy, taken from a psychiatry
magazine in 2009, on what's wrong with CBT:
"have just started cognitive therapy. And if I had to be honest it has made
me more depressed. Being unemployed you begin to concentrate on the minutest
detail of everything. For instance an item of food has gone up 30p. This has
a knock-on effect all the way down the line as you are fixed to an income.
My therapist had no idea how much unemployment benefit was. She thought my
wife and I were both receivng £94 a week. Instead of just £94 for both. I
told her that I was concerned that I wasn't getting enough nourishment as I
only could afford £20 a week for food. She then told me she spends £120 a
week on her shopping. I have to walk everywhere because I can't afford bus
fare. I have had problems with my knees for years. And after walking three
miles to the session and three miles back. They hurt. And without missing a
beat she suggested maybe jogging would help my depression.
Try as you may, empathy is no substitute for walking in another person's
shoes. Only then can you truly understand depression.
I dread going back to these sessions. Basically the ethos is a buck-up and
pull yourself together philosophy. I would have been better off talking to
my dead grandmother. At least I respected her."
Best
Dave
On 18 June 2011 12:44, Catherine Daly <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Do tell, CBT (and not the other two things that is a more common
> acronym for) seems like a blast of breathable air compared to religion
> and meds, the first two (in that order) treatments for *any* ailment
> here in the US
>
>
> >
> > Indeed, cognitive behaviour therapy is already close to being a term of
> > abuse, which doesn't stop it being increasingly employed, particularly
> upon
> > the poor, as a *means* of abuse.
>
--
David Joseph Bircumshaw
Website and A Chide's Alphabet
http://www.staplednapkin.org.uk
The Animal Subsides http://www.arrowheadpress.co.uk/books/animal.html
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/david.bircumshaw
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blog: http://groggydays.blogspot.com/
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