this post was submitted on 19 Dec 2023
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It's cheaper is what it is (lemmy.world)
submitted 11 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[–] [email protected] 9 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

There’s a lot of evidence that modern CBT therapy just doesn’t really connect with men very well. Mainly because we don’t really tend to solve problems by “considering more gratitude” or “trying yoga at sunrise maybe?” (Was a legit suggestion when I had a therapist lol)

Source?

I'm asking because this sounds nothing like CBT that I did. I'm a woman, but it was gut-wrenching and scary to do exposure therapy. Nothing at all about yoga or gratitude... sounds more like traditional talk therapy to me.

I would give CBT a chance, honestly... I feel like you have some kind of misinformed opinion or maybe had a crappy therapist.

Edit: just for clarity, CBT is a type of talk therapy, but the stuff this person I'm replying to describes sounds more like traditional armchair therapist self-help-book Freudian therapy.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Maybe we have a slight misunderstanding about CBT? CBT I'm referring to is "Cognitive Behavioral Therapy", not exposure therapy. I hope the exposure therapy was beneficial to you though. :)

Basic CBT I'm talking about is a talk therapy modality where the patient is trained to observe the cycle between their thoughts, feelings, and actions, and pay a bit more mindfulness to how they react to things.

I don't wanna bash it! But my point is, sometimes men in particular are not raised to understand or differentiate their emotional feelings on a deep level, so this talk therapy alone doesn't really give them something "actionable" to start solving the problem when you keep getting asked:

"So how does that make you feel?" "Bad?" "Why?"

It can be helpful and it certainly helped me! BUT alone, it also has a blind-spot where it's not as helpful to the way men experience the world. Usually much more externally, and less "pondering feelings."

I know I'm not articulating this the best way, there's a lot of nuance, but I'm glad it's started a productive discussion!

I'm merely saying it can be better, not trying to tear it down. :)

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

No, I'm confident about what I said. Exposure therapy is one part of CBT.

I did CBT for PTSD and death anxiety, the latter involving large bits of exposure therapy.

https://www.psychologytools.com/professional/techniques/exposure/

Do you have any evidence about men having issues with this sort of therapy or is that a personal observation?

Edit: honestly it sounds like you had a bad therapist experinece and that therapist has no idea what CBT is (and sorry to say, but neither do you particularly)

Edit: had to add the passive aggressive smiley :)

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Lol funny how we seem to be carrying on different conversations in different threads. Anyway..

So first, sorry if the smilies come off as passive aggressive. I just talk like that because I'm emotive, and it helps to convey a cordial attitude on an increasingly hostile internet. ^_^

Second, basic disclaimer, not a psychologist, sooo...

When I see papers like this, I'm inclined to believe CBT and exposure therapy are different techniques, if they're being compared as such. But of course, the same practitioner can use different techniques and tools with the same patient.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3347982/

But hey, if I'm wrong and this source is wrong, cool. I'm happy to learn something. To be frank, semantics don't super interest me though.

So about men in therapy, my evidence is both personal experience, and secondhand reports from psychology professionals I don't know personally, and isn't gonna be revolutionary and mind-blowing.

I feel like my therapy experience between two or three therapists was...ok. But I very often felt misunderstood, and like there was a fundamental misunderstanding as to what I was on about at the root of the whole thing.

So, afformentioned Dr. K has a good video about this (YouTube link, dunno how to share as Newpipe) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uf8bt6fGQyA

Found a thoughtful blog here that resonates as to the reasoning. I think he's making sense. https://www.saltcitycounseling.com/post/why-do-men-do-so-poorly-in-therapy

And I can't find the particular episode, but these fine folks discuss it sometimes. https://www.youtube.com/@itsnotjustinyourhead/

It's an unpopular opinion, but people in general, even psychologists, either see no real reason to particularly understand men, or worse and more rarely, actively find them repugnant.

Hope this helps.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago

I didn't read the rest but that study looks st CT vs Exposure, which both fall within CBT.

This is from another paper

Most notably, exposure therapy (“exposure” or “exposure and response prevention”) is the key intervention strategy through which CBT improves outcomes for people with anxiety.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9161762/

I think that study echos who you have been saying, since it mentions that many CBT practioners may avoid exposure therapy and use less effective methods.