Cognitive behavioural therapy
Carol Cattleyhad cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) following the death of her husband. She found it to be a painful experience at times, but it gave her the confidence to continue helping herself.
"I had CBT in the millennium year, a couple of years after my husband died. My husbands death hit me really badly, because we had been together for so long. I had suffered from depression as a teenager and was feeling extremely down again.
"One of the things about CBT is that it's a very emotional experience, because as you work through it, you relive painful experiences. It can be agonising in many ways.
"I had eight or so treatments by the time I finished the course, andI had definitely shaken a lot of things out of myself. It's given me the confidence to be able to help myself.
"The CBT worked for me because I understood what was happening. It was a clearly defined exercise that was obviously leading somewhere, and the truth is that deliberately raking everything up achieved something.
"The psychiatrist gave me a book called Mind over Mood with exercises that you can do on your own. Its a very good book for depression.
"I think CBT is a vital treatment as an alternative to antidepressants.
"It's such a different experience. You feel as if you're in control of your destiny. Its a sensible, rational thing you can do to help yourself."
Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is a talking therapy that can help you manage your problems by changing the way you think and behave. It's most commonly used to treat generalised anxiety disorder and depression.
Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) can help you make sense of overwhelming problems by breaking them down into smaller parts. In CBT, problems are broken down into five main areas.
Carol Cattley had cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) following the death of her husband.