Self-Diagnosis and CBT Regiments

I'm an intelligent person, pursuing a PhD. I'm also the one who knows my life choices and patterns best. It's fairly evident that I suffer from chronic clinical depression. I am seeking to treat myself thru cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).

Aware of the risks of self-diagnosis and the perception that there is a loss of objectivity, my question is on CBT. Does the forum, particularly practicing counselors, have thoughts on self-administering a CBT regiment?

Thank you.

Hello,

nobody on this forum is allowed to act in professional capacity (see the forum rules below). With this caveat, I take off my mod hat -- anyone who wants to share their own experience is welcome to do so.

My therapist does CBT with me and it has helped me a lot.
I couldn't do CBT by myself and have it be successful. Is there a reason why you want to treat yourself and not seek professional help?

In my opinion CBT is best learned with a counsellor, or therapist or similar.

My theory is that your depression could be caused by negative thought processes. You could say you have 'faulty' thinking. CBT helps you recognise those faulty/negative thought processes and how you can unlearn and correct them.

An outside party is better to guide you through this process, to help highlight negative thoughts & behaviours, challenge you, and give you an alternative point of view.

Its hard for you to see all of your own faulty thought processes and behaviours, let alone 'think' yourself better.

For instance one of my faults is reassurance seeking. Without conversations with my therapist I wouldn't have realised what impact this behaviour was having on me. Had I done CBT by myself, this may have been a behaviour I would have clung on to.

A third party can also set you 'homework'. Small tasks, to monitor your thoughts and behaviours. To see how you feel if you change a thought or behviour. It's very useful to talk these through afterwards.

However, the positive side is, that they will guide you to a place where you can implement CBT but yourself at the end of the course. So when I'm going through a bad patch I can go over my notes, and redo everything I learned. I can practice what I learned.

Hope this helps.