Dear Dr. Laura,
I am the cautionary tale I've heard you mention on your show countless times. I have literally been in talk therapy for more than 3/4 of my entire LIFE. That's THIRTY YEARS! All my life, I have struggled with crippling O.C.D., Body Dysmorphic Disorder, and Social Anxiety.
At age 12, I began talk-therapy with a very well-meaning Marriage Family Child Counselor. While she did trace the roots of my disorders you guessed it...to my mother -- hooray for FREUD -- finding the roots of it, did nothing to help me get over it! I saw that doctor for 15 years. She retired, and referred me to her best friend, another MFCC, who I then saw for another 12 years! Still, none of my symptoms were improving. At one point, it got so bad, I spent an entire year barricaded in my little studio apartment, convinced I was so hideously disfigured, that people on the streets might chase me with pitchforks and torches. I wanted to die. I just couldn't bear to be in my own skin -- the skin I spent over an hour washing up to three times a day until it bled. I finally realized, if I didn't try something new, or have myself committed, I was going to kill myself.
While researching in-patient treatment facilities, I came across something totally foreign to me: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. It quite literally saved my life! For once, nobody there wanted to talk about my childhood, or how I got there. The point is to give you exercises, homework, and actual tools to get you better and OUT OF THERAPY - such a novel concept to a girl who had been talking circles about her mother for the better part of 25 years! The first thing they did was have me write down a list of all my "rules" someone with OCD has. Then, they basically had me break them...one by one...using "Exposure Therapy". This has literally been the hardest work I've ever done. But, after just two years, I am finally FREE!!!! I am a completely changed woman, and it only took TWO YEARS of therapy!!!
Thank you for recommending Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to your listeners with anxiety disorders. I am living proof it works. If only I had known about CBT before wasting 30 years and, if my math is correct, around $93,000 on pointless talk therapy. I've been listening to you for over 20 years, and one day, I hope to shake your hand... and now I won't need to use hand-sanitizer afterward!
With Much Gratitude,
Amanda
