Max
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Hiya Dave,
CBT can be varied in how it's delivered and the quality of who delivers it. I've had three experiences with it: firstly when I was ten, as I was having a lot of issues with mild-moderate obsessive compulsive disorder. I had several one-to-one sessions with a child therapist. Child psychology is undoubtedly understood and treated differently to adult, but on this occasion it transformed my life. I don't even know if it was the CBT itself, but the opportunity to talk about it with someone lifted a weight off my shoulders.
The second time was in 2013 and was basically a referral to an online course - I spent an hour, once a week, for eight weeks, doing online sessions, with goals/work to be done by yourself in the week. I did not find this to be very helpful, mostly because the course was best applicable for people with anxiety and depression, and I didn't have/don't have depression. I wanted to be able to talk out the issue, and this wasn't possible. I learned some good principles, but I should have told my GP at the time it wasn't really helping.
Final time was early 2015. I felt my anxiety rearing up and didn't want to be in a position where I felt I couldn't cope. I had one session face-to-face with someone, which massively overran and was nearly two hours long. Thereafter we had, I think, six 30 minute phone conversations (option was available to do face-to-face meetings, but I wanted to be able to work normally and not take lots of time off during the week, so I did it in my lunchtimes) once a week.
This was very helpful, and helped me turn a corner. My anxiety gradually diminished throughout the course of treatment, and has receded a lot since. I have been mostly without symptoms for over a year. It could come back, but I feel prepared to deal with those feelings if it does. Generally, when it works, rather than getting unhappy, anxious or frustrated when you feel symptoms of anxiety, it can help you react in a healthier and less destructive way.
I can empathise with overthinking and running scenarios through your mind. These are thought patterns - ways you've learned to think and interpret the world, and they can be changed. CBT, regardless of how it is delivered, is designed to help you dig deeper into your thoughts, and break the cycle between thinking unhelpful things and feeling bad. As I said, I found it helpful to talk - I didn't think I would, but that was helpful for me. No one individual technique or magic bullet made me feel better. It was just great talking to someone who has heard it all before, won't give an unhelpful reaction, and to be honest sometimes challenged me when I was being deflective or defeatist.
Do you know how your CBT will be delivered? I understand your skepticism, and it doesn't work for everyone. But if you can, do try to face it with an open mind, as it might work for you. Most important thing, absolutely: be honest. Tell them how bad you feel. Tell them how it affects you. Tell them what you worry about. Tell them if/why you worry CBT won't work for you. They will ask you what you want to get out of the experience, and this can be helpful because often when you're in a shit place, you don't actually think about what 'better' might feel like - you just want the shit to stop. Give the CBT a chance, and really, really put everything you can into it. I don't know what the next step would be if it's not effective for you, but you can certainly cross that bridge if you need to with your GP. Good luck
