CBT disadvantages

Maisy_242

Can anyone let me know a few disadvantages to CBT? any help or links to evaluations would be a great help. I'm having trouble finding anything.

Gibs

Generally CBT is the treatment of choice for most psychological difficulties, from a non-pharmaceutical point of view anyway. Hundreds of studies have been carried out that demonstrate its efficacy and (to a lesser extent) its effectiveness.

The most obvious disadvantage is that it is labour intensive, requires (in many cases) a high level of expertise and needs a fair bit of commitment from the client.

Here's a few links (some saying how great it is, some saying that it has limitations in some situations):

http://www.bmj.com/cgi/reprint/324/7332/288
http://www.psych.yorku.ca/bohr/6480_2005/documents/ReviewOfMetaAnalysesCBT2006.pdf
http://www.prospect-magazine.co.uk/article_details.php?id=7457
http://bjp.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/full/183/2/98
http://www.allaboutpsychotherapy.com/feature_details.asp?FeatureID=26

Odysseus

Hi Gibs,

If you don't mind answering a question on your above comments, the one about committment is what I'm interested in. All therapy takes a commitment to be fair and I trained as as a psychoanalyst and that takes a significant commitment for the client. The HSE currently has me doing a Cognitive Behavioural Coping Skills course through Ledds Uni. A good course the best the HSE has sent me on, I'm in the addiction services BTW. I suppose my question is when you say commitment are you talking about commitment to attend/engage or change the specific behaviour, as there is a significant difference. Just interested in your option as its something I'm trying to work through. Cheers.

Gibs

I suppose the lazy answer to your question is to say that I think you need both . My own background is not in psychoanalysis so I'm a bit reluctant to offer any thoughts on the differences in approach between your original approach and the CBT approach.

If I am understanding your query correctly I would probably say that the commitment I am talking about refers to what the client has to do both during the sessions and also outside the sessions. CBT approaches tend to place considerable emphasis on 'homework' and on engaging in various activities and tasks during the time between sessions. I would think that, to a large extent, the change that occurs typically depends on how well the client follows through on the given tasks between sessions.

By the way, if you are doing a course on CBT coping strategies and addiction you might find this link useful

Finally, here's another site that discusses CBT across a whole range of topics and aspects.

Odysseus

Cheers thanks for your reply, the course poses a lot of questions for me and thanks for the links, project match is on the reading list.

taztastic

I'm in the addiction services BTW.

I'm a huge fan of CBT and I'm currently being trained in its use with children and young people where there are certainly plenty of disadvantages to do with cognitive/verbal ability and various other developmental issues.
But the big problem we have is one I would think may be an issue for you, namely does the person see it as a problem themselves. In children's services you often come across the "fix this child" type of referral and some poor child is duly dispatched for CBT. I wonder if addition services get a similar thing in that patients arrive at therapy because everyone tells them they need it and threatens greater loss if they do not (i.e. isolation or homelessness). It so the extent to which they may be willing to sacrifice current behaviours or cognitions may be limited if they do not perceive a real need to change.

JuliusCaesar

The BABCP maintains a lively jiscmail forum in which issues are debated back and forth. Many of the 'big names' in CBT contribute and it is very informative. Try going to jiscmail.ac.uk and searching for BABCP.