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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 13 of 13. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Hordak on January 6, 2019, at 14:13:00
?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acceptance_and_commitment_therapy
Posted by baseball55 on January 6, 2019, at 19:04:02
In reply to What are your experiences with ACT compared to CBT, posted by Hordak on January 6, 2019, at 14:13:00
I'm not sure exactly what ACT is. But from the wikipedia entry, it seems to be a lot like DBT. I found DBT very helpful and CBT totally useless for depression.
This is because CBT approaches depression as a result of cognitive distortion - my boss criticized me, therefore I am a loser and can't do anything right. My friend didn't return my phone call, therefore she must hate me because I am not likable.
I suppose there are people for whom depression is mostly driven by negative thoughts about oneself, but this was never the issue for me. I had/have fairly high self-esteem and realistic reactions to people/events. But I get overwhelmed by feelings of despair and hopelessness that have no triggering thoughts at all.
DBT, on the other hand (and it seems that ACT is derived from DBT), focuses on coping skills rather than cognitive triggers. So you begin with the reality of severe depression and ask, how can I cope with this and keep myself safe and alive? And the answer is by learning to accept your feelings and learn to act mindfully so you can get some relief from overwhelming negative feelings.
I'm not sure what the "commitment" part of ACT means.
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acceptance_and_commitment_therapy
Posted by Hordak on January 7, 2019, at 7:47:08
In reply to Re: What are your experiences with ACT compared to CBT, posted by baseball55 on January 6, 2019, at 19:04:02
> I'm not sure exactly what ACT is. But from the wikipedia entry, it seems to be a lot like DBT. I found DBT very helpful and CBT totally useless for depression.
DBT is Dialectical behavior therapy?
> This is because CBT approaches depression as a result of cognitive distortion - my boss criticized me, therefore I am a loser and can't do anything right. My friend didn't return my phone call, therefore she must hate me because I am not likable.
>
> I suppose there are people for whom depression is mostly driven by negative thoughts about oneself, but this was never the issue for me.Exactly! My thoughts are not irrational... it's just that people are arseholes....
Posted by baseball55 on January 7, 2019, at 17:38:45
In reply to Re: What are your experiences with ACT compared to CBT, posted by Hordak on January 7, 2019, at 7:47:08
> DBT is Dialectical behavior therapy?
Yes.
>
> Exactly! My thoughts are not irrational... it's just that people are arseholes....I knew a woman who always went on about this *ssh*l* or that *ssh*l* she encountered. And I said to her - why is it that you run into all these *ssh*l*s and I don't? She had no idea what I meant.
So...Maybe it's something you bring to encounters?
Posted by sigismund on January 8, 2019, at 17:02:38
In reply to Re: What are your experiences with ACT compared to CBT, posted by baseball55 on January 7, 2019, at 17:38:45
It's fair to say that some people (especially important ones) can be disappointing.
Posted by Hordak on January 16, 2019, at 12:38:32
In reply to Re: What are your experiences with ACT compared to CBT, posted by baseball55 on January 7, 2019, at 17:38:45
I am a little scrawny guy (5'5" and 115 lbs). People don't respect me because I am a manlet.
>
> So...Maybe it's something you bring to encounters?
Posted by baseball55 on January 16, 2019, at 21:45:04
In reply to Re: What are your experiences with ACT compared to CBT » baseball55, posted by Hordak on January 16, 2019, at 12:38:32
> I am a little scrawny guy (5'5" and 115 lbs). People don't respect me because I am a manlet.
>
A CBT therapist would have a field day with that statement. Do you know people don't respect you, or are you just assuming that? Is your low self-esteem ("I'm a manlet") causing you to a behave in a defensive manner that people react badly to?I'm sure there are those who regard a small of stature male negatively, at least initially. But I have known many small men who are bursting with energy and confidence and are thus highly regarded. When you bring good energy to encounters, people tend not to pay attention to your appearance.
Posted by alexandra_k on January 18, 2019, at 9:05:44
In reply to Re: What are your experiences with ACT compared to CBT, posted by baseball55 on January 16, 2019, at 21:45:04
My experience of therapy is that the fit between the therapist and myself is the most important thing and that transcends theoretical orientation -- though I suppose different personalities (or similar) are drawn to different orientations.
My experience of cognitive therapy was that the therapist was often on the look-out for particular statements or phrases that resembles the textbook ones they encountered in their training, I guess. I suppose because they felt like they had knowledge in what to do about those sorts of things -- getting me to question, or to say the opposite to myself, or whatever.
I personally found it fairly artificial. They were more focused on surface form than listening for deeper meaning. Confrontational. They were focused on challenging or changing the things they had identified.
I found it encouraged me to dissociate / separate out from the emotion.
It led me to investigate into how emotional responses can be non-voluntary and isolated from reason. How emotional responses can be entirely appropriate responses to the way things are in the person or the environment even when the person may not be able to articulate the reason or rationality.
It might be that people in your vicinity do treat you with not much respect. Whether or not it is about your height / weight. Many people are disrespectful of others. It might be that you are picking up on that. Whether or not it has anything to do with your height / weight.
It is feeling like that that leads many people to attempting to do something about it, though. Most concretely, eating their way to obesity for increased... Heft. Or (in conjunction with gym) eating their way to something more dwarven, since there isn't much you can do about your height.
I guess a textbook CBT therapist would have you question / challenge whether your statement was true. The therapist would likely jump on it as a classic falsehood / something to see about changing.
ACT and DBT and other types of therapy might be more interested in validating your feeling as your feeling and trying to grasp the inherent grain of truth in what you are saying. Then working with that core.
Posted by Martinchen978 on January 26, 2019, at 16:20:25
In reply to Re: What are your experiences with ACT compared to CBT, posted by alexandra_k on January 18, 2019, at 9:05:44
Thanks for the very elaborate answer :=)
Where are you from, Alexandra?
Posted by alexandra_k on January 27, 2019, at 14:22:26
In reply to Re: What are your experiences with ACT compared to CBT » alexandra_k, posted by Martinchen978 on January 26, 2019, at 16:20:25
New Zealand. I've spent time in Australia, too, though, and a little time in North Carolina.
I used to read a lot about different therapies and talk a lot to other people who were having various forms of therapy.
It feels odd talking about this stuff, now.
Where are you from? What do you think?
Posted by alexandra_k on January 28, 2019, at 2:40:47
In reply to Re: What are your experiences with ACT compared to CBT, posted by alexandra_k on January 27, 2019, at 14:22:26
Posted by Martinchen978 on February 5, 2019, at 18:28:28
In reply to Re: What are your experiences with ACT compared to CBT, posted by alexandra_k on January 27, 2019, at 14:22:26
I am from Germany. Hamburg, to be exact.
Have you been healed or a you still searching for the cure? :=))
I am not sure what to think... SSRI emptiness is a pain in the butt ;)
> New Zealand. I've spent time in Australia, too, though, and a little time in North Carolina.
>
> I used to read a lot about different therapies and talk a lot to other people who were having various forms of therapy.
>
> It feels odd talking about this stuff, now.
>
> Where are you from? What do you think?
Posted by alexandra_k on February 12, 2019, at 14:51:38
In reply to Re: What are your experiences with ACT compared to CBT, posted by Martinchen978 on February 5, 2019, at 18:28:28
> Have you been healed or a you still searching for the cure? :=))
I think I have largely outgrown any of the help that could be offered to me.
I suppose I may be cured.
Most of my troubles are environmental. Poor person-environment fit, or similar.
> I am not sure what to think... SSRI emptiness is a pain in the butt ;)I used to experience emptiness. I suppose I do sometimes if I think my future plans for my life may not come into fruition.
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