Talking therapy versus active therapy
 

I know that everyone is different and that different therapies suit certain individuals. What I was wondering is, especially people who have had both 'talking' therapy and more active types of therapy such as CBT, which do you think is the best? I've thought for a long time that it's important to give people the time and space to talk through what is right for them and I would like to pursue a career in counselling. Recently I have been assessed for Schema therapy which is an extension of CBT and although I haven't properly started it yet we have looked at ways for me to manage my anxiety and difficulties with life.

I'm thinking that maybe active therapeutic approaches are more beneficial as they can help you to move forward in ways that you can apply yourself. I know that it's good to have someone willing to listen and to help you to explore your worries but it seems very static. I have seen counsellors for around 4 years and feel that they have helped me to stay alive but haven't helped me to learn how to live in a more comfortable way. Anyway, after this long winded story all i'm asking is which type of therapy do you think is most beneficial? As with most psychological debates the best answer would probably be a bit of both!

I'm in analytic/psychodynamic based psychotherapy. My therapist has training in body psychotherapy, and we do lots of trauma recovery work which involves body feelings and memories and such, and sometimes expressing myself physically. I also use my art and writings and explore them in therapy.
I've some training in integrative psychotherapy [mainly integrating humanistic and psychodynamic approaches] some of which is very active in terms of tasks and exercises and approaches, but also very fluid.

I'm really not sure. I think the most important thing is the therapeutic relationship, whether your therapist is experienced, you are able to engage with him/her etc.

I think things like psychodynamic/analytic therapies are useful because they try to find the core problem and sort that out. For isntance, what is making you think that way/feel that way / do that. When CBT etc are more about managing the symptoms without dealing with the underlying causes, although there are some forms of CBT I've found that do. Argh, it's all very confusing I don't know what I mean.

i used to love Art therapy and Dance Movement Therapy, i find it so much easier than sitting and actually talking about things and i had fun doing it. It was with a group and 3 members of staff and we would share the time between us...

It's not really about whatever is best, it's about whatever is best for you.
Art therapy might do wonders for one person, but shít all for the next, same with every other type of therapy.
IIt' why I get so annoyed when peole say therapy doesn't work for them, I doubt theyve tried every type of therapy there is, and besides the theraist themselves plays a big factor in whether someone will honestly open up to them and whatever.
So yeah, everyone's different so I think it's kind of impossible to say which is better overall.

im really bad at talking thereapy and have never been to active therapy i dont think so i had to put down i dont know.
talking therapy is no good for me as i cannot bring myself to talk about myself face to face with people...especially professionals!

I think that it's different for different people.

Some people literally do just need someone to talk to and vent all their problems at, & then they feel a lot better, & that's all they need.

Other people need to completely re-write their thoughts & work on both their thought processes and their actions.

I have had both, though I've only had talking therapy for 6 weeks, & I found that because I had talking therapy AFTER CBT, it wasn't very helpful. I found CBT quite helpful because my counsellor made sure that we talked things through - we had to in order to be able to work on the thought processes themselves. It also helped that my CBT counsellor was absolutely LOVELY, & I met with her for 18 months, so we got to know each other & how we worked quite well.

I also think that with 'issues' such as OCD, etc, CBT or therapies like it can be very helpful in terms of recovery.

Just my two pennies =)
x

For me, psychodynamic therapy.. so talking therapy, has been alot better than CBT/active therapies.

I Hated CBT. I felt patronised the whole way through, and that wasn't the fault of the psychologists, just the whole way CBT works.

But then i don't really have a problem coping day to day, which CBT tends to work with, my problems are deeper and needed going in depth with.

I think it depends on the problems, your personality, intelligence, background.. everything.. which works better for you.

All my life I've been stuck with therapists who love CBT. I don't blame them. But I can't stand it. It really, really doesn't work for me, for reasons that aren't really relevant, but like Lizzie, I felt like it was an oversimplification and that frustrated me.

But recently I started seeing a therapist who is much more in tune with me as an individual and who recognized that I do a lot better if I can write things and then talk about them. So we do talking. No charts, no systems, just words. I adore it. I'm doing really well.

That said, I really believe that it's so totally dependent on the person. Some people really benefit from CBT. Some, like me, don't. It's important that a therapist is able to assess the best method for every person.

I find a good moan to my 'helpy people' really helps me to calm down/release the anger/get things straight in my head etc etc
but when I actually DO something - like go out when Im scared to or eat something that Im scared to I feel like I've really acheived something & it spurs me on to do more.