The end of my CBT sessions is in sight and I wanted to share with you some of what I experienced relating to this.

When my CBT was arranged I was told how many sessions I was going to have and that towards the end of the my time doing CBT we would review how things have gone and whether it was effective and if further CBT would be appropriate.  The first series of CBT sessions had lasted 20 weeks and when things were reviewed it had been decided that the therapy had worked well with my depression but that as the depression subsided new problems involving anxiety had arisen and that it might be beneficial to use CBT (a further 6 session) to deal with these. 

After 4 of the 6 CBT sessions the therapist thought we ought to talk about how I thought things were going and about working on ending the sessons. I got quite emotional with him when he told me there would be no more that the 6 sessions and I told him why I was upset. He tried to explain that they had limited resources, that CBT was normally (in the NHS at least) only scheduled for a set number of sessions and that I had more than most people would and that if I CBT hadn't worked for me by now then maybe CBT wasn't the appropriate treatment for my anyway. I felt really upset because I felt that the CBT was beneficial, that I still had problems and that once the CBT finished then I would go back to square one and lose my job, my family and home. He tried to explain that just because the CBT sessions ended there was no reason why I couldn't carry on using the techniques and continue to improve my life but I was too upset to really listen and I felt that the sessions ending were more to do with NHS resources than it wasn't beneficial in continueing with them. I left the building feeling that I wouldn't be attending the last two of my CBT sessions - after all what would be the point!

Two weeks later I went back for my 5th out of 6 CBT sessions and the therapist asked me how I was doing. He looked a bit tense probably wait for a negative response but I told him I had been having some difficulties but had made some progress. We talked about ending therapy again and he was visibily surprised at my change in attitude and I was pleased that we were able to put the last session behind us. When he asked what had changed my view on ending therapy, I was happy to explain that when I left the last session I put a lot of thought into whether CBT had helped me at all and if I really felt that I still needed CBT. It was clear to me that CBT had helped me but I also felt that I still needed it. However, if CBT was really beneficial to me and was working then it would seem logical that I should be able to put into practice the techniques I had learnt and therefore I would be handling the end of CBT much better. So, logically it seemed that if I couldn't cope with ending CBT then CBT probably wasn't the appropriate treatment. 

I wonder if I hadn't already booked myself on a mindfullness based stress reduction course if I would have been able to change my mind but I am pleased that I have booked myself on the course and therefore it doesn't really matter anyway. As we talked a couple of things came out that might have helped me if I could have understood them before:-

• Experience tells me that I am not really the best person to decide whether to stop treatment or not.
• The goal of CBT is that you should be able to apply the CBT techniques without having CBT sessions for the rest of your life.
• CBT Sessions are just lessons in learning CBT techniques the real work happens outside of the sessions.
• CBT doesn't work for everyone.

I still feel that limiting the number of sessions is a lot to do with NHS resources but coming to the end of the sessions has forced me to come to a new level of understanding that I might not have otherwise reached. Whilst this current set of sessions may be coming to an end it might be that in the future it could be appropriate to have more CBT and I feel quite positive about the future (it's a nice change!). If like me you are having problems ending therapy then perhaps it might help to try to look at things in a different way - I didn't find it easy but I feel much better for it.