Repeating therapy... when do you give up?

[blackemerald1]

I reckon my progress in terms of ptsd has been so slow that I can identify and relate where you are currently at and probably have been in the same place several times @Innordinate.

My recovery seems glacially slow and actually might well have slipped backwards at times.

I'm prone to thinking I have not recovered at all at times and feel dependent on my doctors a lot sometimes and virtually not at all in other moments. So I'm still enduring the cyclic nature of ptsd. and I ask your question repeatedly. They say, 'have patience'.

I don't think there are any new treatments that you haven't tried but keep testing the winds, something new might be coming along.

In the meantime I agree with sideways and Friday - you are a work in progress and that's a good way to be.

 

[grit]

It is great you are exploring vyour options to get better in life.
My take ofyour post is:I would ask a lot of critical questions so you can find your own personal reasons.
Why do you think you need therapy?
What works last time?
What did not work?why?
What will success look like?
Why do I need to know about therapy in others?
Do I believe intherapy?

For me, I needed to see myself clearly and I wanted to explore my thoughts and feelings about me and others to learn what I did not learn as a child cause I was too disassociated and survival mood.
I am getting the nuance and sometimes great insights but more importantly I practise whatever I learn.
I talk to others and see learn from them too ...I find people I can learn from.
Life is the best therapy. But I am in therapy to also learn.

But I know sometimes it is good to have a person who listens us ...and that feeling alone is valid and only you know how and why

 

[TruthSeeker]

Just quick question.....

how many times do you repeat various therapies before deciding they just don't work?
When do you stop banging your head against that particular brick wall?

Or do you just keep going and going and hope one will work at some point in time?

Anyone here done the same therapy like 4 times throughout their life? Did it ever work? Never.

I dunno. Looking for a reason to re-do/re-try the same ol' stuff. CBT, ACT, EMDR, psychoanalytical groups..... etc. etc.

Anyone try anything else that did finally work when it seemed everything else failed?

I went to therapy, and bitched....and was given titles of books to read, and I read them-and read some more. My T didn't talk much, she did a lot of listening....recently got a new T who knows her stuff more than the last, and who asks for clarification, gives strategies, and makes her opinion known gently. Boundaries are kept, expectations clear.

I have resolved a lot of stuff, and put the past into place with Shamanic Journeying (and I'm discovering that there are therapists out their who are also practitioners of shamanism). I am not all gung ho on shamanism....I'm all about the practice of finding lost parts of my soul and putting them back-a premise of shamanism.....I go to journey (meditate, mindwalk, self-hypnosis) with a specific intent to find and answer to a question, resolve a problem, or have an internal meeting and gain consensus....or make a decision that will impact me. I am as big in my head as I want to be, as confident as I choose to be, and treat myself with respect. In combination, I got to clay class....and art classes which are not therapy related. I don't do art therapy....that totally frustrated me so I quit that. I did hypnosis w a T, to get the safe place over 30 years ago for about a year....and it really destresses me.........that was helpful and kind of turned me on to the strategy of a mindwalk. If it is used correctly, for the purposes of healing oneself, very empowering. I don't do T led hypnotherapy now.....everything I do in my own head, is not suggested by someone else. In self-hypnosis, I have a compassionate spirit guide....who keeps me safe..(mine is an eagle)....my UU church has a shaman who runs a monthly group....and he is X military w PTSD....a marine who finds compassion in helping others by leading a shamanic journey circle. Shamanic healing (journeying) is a conscious attempt to make things right, it is highly creative, feels safe, and a go at your own pace thing...I see many parallels in the psychotherapy and shamanic healing. I'm not all about the rituals, but I am about the healing practices....and how I can access my head, and make changes in my perceptions......and creative people tend to do well with this practice. Combined with therapy...it has had a major positive impact. My goal, contentment....I could not see it two years ago....it was unreal. Now, I am so much happier....and working on unloading my past stuff....so I can let it go...So, my answer is that everyone has to find their own way, and much of that is based on how much faith one has.....I have a lot of faith that things will work out....but when I was in the muck....
it was harder to feel....good luck there. Read about how Shamanism and psychotherapy are a good fit, together.

There is a book

 

[Innordinate]

There is a book

What book do you find most useful?

 

[TruthSeeker]

I believe that spirituality of some description provides hope. I did the Catholic upbringing....the 10 commandments a good basis for living, but I didn't do confession to a priest, a man who never had sex.....and I had lots of sorted details that he couldn't comprehend....saying a prayer wasn't going to cut it. I tell that shxt to my T.

But in Shamanism,it is tied closely to nature and Earth....and I connect with nature so for me a natural fit...and no dogma. There is no rule book and no guilt, and there are many flavors of journey structures (like healing garden, healing pool, etc), from many cultures to choose from. I take what I can use for healing myself, and leave the rest. Shamanistic healing is totally head work.and it requires practice, writing it down, and feeling....alone or in a group. I go to a monthly circle, and there is a shaman who leads the event and is also a drummer....and the drum totally is both grounding.....and gives you the ability to do altered state of consciousness work. Some people get tapes of the drumming and do that at home, but the vibrations of the drum....very nice.....there are two types....alpha waves...short more in the head more clearly journeys, and delta/theta....longer more dreamlike journeys-where less is recalled, but the dream state is deeper. There are different eeg/brainwave states of consciousness....for journeying. There are a few shamans out there that use plants to increase the journey experience......stay away from them! This is not the norm.

Shamanism melds well with Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy. If you haven't done IFS, that may be an avenue to consider. IFS isn't for only people on the DID/DDNOS spectrum.....CPTSD, and all types of abuse.....it can be very powerful if you use the parts info you learn and incorporate it into journeying. The two combined, and some belief or buy in that we have a soul, and parts are missing.....we need to find them and heal those parts...to be whole. I use the Shamanic practices to facilitate internal healing with loss, grief, anger, confusion, internal cooperation, internal communication and decision-making. I only go to a therapist who understands and has experience with IFS-then I can talk about my journeying. Therapists who get hypnosis....get journeying. Do not confuse Family Systems Therapy with Internal Family Systems Therapy (two very different things)

Here are some resources:

Shamanism and Spirituality in Therapeutic Practice
Education-AUDIO BOOK a good thought provoking story about a woman overcoming childhood trauma (C-PTSD) I look for material that provides hope....this is an excellent story told from her perspective....I get a lot out of other people's stories and it is especially powerful in audiobook format.
Self-Therapy: A Step by StepGuide to Creating Wholeness and Healing Your Inner Child Using IFS (a type of parts therapy used for both PTSD and CPTSD) -this is the most simplistic book on the market about parts of self, and an easy read.
Self-Therapy Workbook (use with the book above)
The Shamanic Journey: A Practical Guide to Shamanism
Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving

I did not journey alone at home, until I had mastered the practice in a very small intimate group. I tend to gravitate to the Unitarian Universalist Church (they let anyone in-all beliefs welcome).....where you can sometimes get connected with shamans who practice primarily healing. There are also shamanic groups not affiliated with a church who can provide the guidance in the healing structures in the practice of Shamanism. While I take what I like that fits me and my own journey style, and leave some of the beliefs behind, core Shamanism (sometimes referred to as Neo-Shamanism) has the basic journey elements you need for healing. I direct the process to my own missing or hurting parts and to internal problems encountered and finding a solution. So understanding your internal parts (critic) or thos parts that prevent you from moving forward, has been a huge step. Knowing my parts, was essential to me making the journey work.....meaningful and productive-and hence, healing. It is just very directed mind work, very creative, and quite stress reducing. Good Luck.

 

[Justmehere]

i just get tired of this cycle- do therapy, get better, start getting life on track, slam into brick wall, do therapy, on n on.

i know a lot of therapy things
i know how to set smart goals
catch cognitive distortions etc etc

its actually using them consistently where i fail
so re-doing the same therapies..... i dont really believe they're going to help much anymore...... just gonna set me up to feel like i failed again....

I asked a seasoned trauma therapist once about when recovery gets easier. He hesitated. He eventually said, "It doesn't get easier, but you will get stronger. It's like lifting weights." Just like 1 shot of insulin doesn't manage diabetes for a lifetime, but daily shots just might... for some of us, I think PTSD is kind of like that. It does get easier to apply the therapies the 2nd or even 3rd time around. Skill-based therapies seem to become more of automatic habits the more I "repeat" them. And it's not really like repeating so much as it is strengthing and refining. My own battle with PTSD hasn't gotten easier, but I can do more and well, frankly, the fact I'm still alive some days is a success in and of itself. A therapy helping may mean it helps get through a bad moment without going as far down as I might have without it.

 

[Wendell_R]

I tried psychoanalytical for a long time, with some progress, but very slow and frustrating. I tried CBT, and that felt great at first, but then a lot of internal pressure built up. Tried somatic therapies, and that didn't work. Tried DBT, and that was awful. What finally worked was when the DBT therapist said I had dissociation, then worked with the CBT therapist with stuff that I had found about dissociation. After we found the path of doing parts work, my somatic/DBT therapist helped me find someone who could really deal with the dissociation. Parts work + EMDR is working. When I found something that worked, I could tell after a month that this was the right path. It's still been a long time working through stuff.

 

[TruthSeeker]

I tried psychoanalytical for a long time, with some progress, but very slow and frustrating. I tried CBT, and that felt great at first, but then a lot of internal pressure built up. Tried somatic therapies, and that didn't work. Tried DBT, and that was awful. What finally worked was when the DBT therapist said I had dissociation, then worked with the CBT therapist with stuff that I had found about dissociation. After we found the path of doing parts work, my somatic/DBT therapist helped me find someone who could really deal with the dissociation. Parts work + EMDR is working. When I found something that worked, I could tell after a month that this was the right path. It's still been a long time working through stuff.

@ Wendal....same reaction here with parts work. Parts work, I knew right away was working and made sense. With my new T, she talks to me and my parts....acknowledges them....and that seems respectful....and my combo, is Shamanic Journey work (parts communication work and retrieval thru self-hypnosis)....seen lots of progress, and feeling much better about the whole thing. I have a seizure disorder, so some therapists feel EMDR is contraindicated.....and I have C-PTSD w dissociation.

 

[Wendell_R]

I have a seizure disorder, so some therapists feel EMDR is contraindicated.....and I have C-PTSD w dissociation.

Having done both parts work and EMDR, I think the EMDR can speed things up, but the parts work is absolutely the big key. If I don't have access to the right parts, doing EMDR is like doing surgery on the wrong patient--doesn't do to much. So your strategy makes a lot of sense to me! We are going to go back and try redoing some EMDR now that I have access to parts I didn't know last year.

I know there is some controversy about dissociative identities. But I also know that true healing began for me after I embraced the dissociation, and that's enough evidence for me.

 

[TruthSeeker]

Having done both parts work and EMDR, I think the EMDR can speed things up, but the parts work is absolutely the big key. If I don't have access to the right parts, doing EMDR is like doing surgery on the wrong patient--doesn't do to much. So your strategy makes a lot of sense to me! We are going to go back and try redoing some EMDR now that I have access to parts I didn't know last year.

I know there is some controversy about dissociative identities. But I also know that true healing began for me after I embraced the dissociation, and that's enough evidence for me.

@ Wendell.....Yeah, you are doing great! I have a new therapist, with lots more experience and withitness than the last. So, starting over is a real pain, but I have confidence in that she's quite experienced with parts, EMDR, and other therapies and she seems quite competent. You are quite right.....knowing the parts is key to making changes in perceptions and behaviors.....and I agree....if it is working....don't need to fix it. EMDR-maybe my next chapter.....will keep an open mind.

 

[Changing4Best]

I see therapy as an ongoing need, not something that I pick and choose types for. I have had some trauma based therapy and some not. I took a DBT course when it was offered to me by the mental health clinic I was going to at the time. I know I don't do well in group therapy, so I ask for one on one. That is what helps me most. I know that therapy does help me, so I do carry on with it, even if one session here and there seems to do nothing. I don't believe that therapy has ever hurt me, so I carry on....

 

[MrMoonlight]

I've been doing a combo of EMDR and talk therapy for a couple years now. Within that time I did trauma IOP. I like having someone who I can trust with stuff. I wonder about others... If you guys took breaks from therapy for a time? Did you find seeing someone consistently was the way for you?