Tinnitus CBT

[Bimmy26]

Hello everyone. I’m new to Tinnitus. 2 months in. Driving me mad and struggling to cope. Mine is due to some high frequency loss in my right ear. Which is not enough for a HA. I’m on the ENT waiting list which is 6 months. I understand that CBT is a good option. Is this something that is on the NHS? Or do I have to try and find somewhere myself?

[TinnitusUKPat Partner]

Hi Bimmy26

Thank you for your post.

CBT is available via the NHS. Sometimes the level of availability is dependent on where you live in the UK and how long waiting lists are.

The NHS operates talking therapies under the banner IAPT - Improving Access To Psychological Therapy - and you can self-refer to this service, which helps people to develop skills to manage anxiety, stress and low mood.

nhs.uk/service-search/menta...

You can also access CBT privately - the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy have lists of accredited counsellors and therapists across the UK - bacp.co.uk/about-therapy/in...

Increasingly, telehealth services are also available - there are online counselling services like the Tinnitus E-Program, The Hearing Coach and Outring Tinnitus which directly support people with tinnitus and other hearing issues: tinnituseprogram.org/ thehearingcoach.com/ and outringtinnitus.com/

You can also consider smartphone apps like Tinnibot and OtO, which offer CBT-based support on devices whenever required - hearingpower.co/tinnibot/ and joinoto.com/

[Bimmy26 in reply to TinnitusUKPat]

Thanks very much. That’s very helpful. Do you know roughly how long these CBT courses take?

[Happyrosie in reply to Bimmy26]

certainly each private counsellor would have their own timetable, and anyway it much depends on how each individual responds to the therapy. I think if you go to the NHS site and input CBT to their search box you’ll get more info about what it is and how it works, if you follow the links (as far as I remember from last time I looked).

I chatted yesterday to my hearing aid audiologist who is, coincidentally, our area specialist for T. She recommends firstly accessing Tinnitus UK website and going from there, with CBT highly recommended.

[Bimmy26 in reply to Happyrosie]

Thank you. CBT has got to be worth a try!

[psycholady666]

I am a HCPC registered psychologist ( and dont do CBT for T) . What you need is not a general counsellor or even generic CBT therapist. They need to be able to deliver a CBT-for tinnitus programme specifically which they wont all have experience of . Therefore choose carefully - online is just as effective.

[TinnitusUKPat Partner in reply to psycholady666]

Hi Psycholady

I, too, am keen to encourage the use of digital services where people have the means to do so - there isn't the immediate geographical divide preventing access if a patient is in Cornwall and their therapist is based in Sunderland, for example. Folks posting on this forum are likely to have all of the equipment that they need to access this kind of online CBT.

For various reasons, people are reluctant to use this method of counselling - it's worth pointing out that NICE's recommendations for tinnitus CBT do include the use of online counselling services and therapy where available (section 1.5.4 - nice.org.uk/guidance/ng155/... to get people evidence-based help in a timely fashion.

[Bimmy26 in reply to psycholady666]

Thanks for the info. I will look into it

[Zeis]

hi Bimmy26, I am sorry that you are suffering and struggling to cope. I can only offer my personal experience in addition to the resources provided with the hope that it helps you. First, your body / mind will habituate to the ringing..this doesn’t mean it goes away but you will find ways to cope with it. I have found wearing HA’s to be very helpful to help mask the noise..the technology is much improved and there many more options. I actually wear one at night to help me fall and stay asleep. It is worth the expense. Again, I can empathize with what you are going through and wish you all the best.

[Bimmy26 in reply to Zeis]

Thank you so much for your kind words. I have good and bad days.. today has been a good day. My consultant says I don’t have enough hearing loss to have a HA. Like a lot of people my T seems worse when im tired but Luckily enough I have been managing to sleep ok at night. Probably cos i feel mentally drained! Im still trying to figure it all out as it’s only been 2 months.