Apparently I've Reached An Impasse...

[barefoot]

@Gadgie - I'm really not a fan of FaceTime/Skype/video calls. I find them quite clunky. And I don't like the thought of my face being beamed into someone's room - it makes me feel really awkward and self-conscious (probably even more so than actual real life face-to-face).

There's been a couple of occasions where we've done a phone call instead of a face-to-face session but that's only ever been a straightforward audio call - and that's worked surprisingly well for me (I'm a bit phone phobic!) because I think not being seen lowers the intensity a lot for me. But when we do a call, she always makes sure we have quite a light session as she's always mindful of the fact that she's not actually physically with me, so I don't think she wants me to put the phone down then have a dramatic response that she can't then support me with.

Sounds like it's possibly a good option for you to explore yourself though?
:-)

 

[barefoot]

Thanks @HollyBeans27 - I hope it does too!

Not heard of talkspace before - I'll take a look as I'm interested to see what they offer and how it works.

I think I'd prefer to stick to contacting my own therapist though if I need a bit more support between sessions. And I think she would prefer that too. She's always been fine about me texting/emailing but I don't do it often - I'm always mindful of the fact that it's then eating into her personal time, so I only tend to do it if I feel it's something really important that either can't wait or that I want to make myself accountable for talking about at the next session. And, even then, I then feel bad for bothering her!

When we spoke the other day she encouraged me to email her more as I express myself much better in writing (when it comes to therapy) so she wanted to maximise on that and have us use it more. I said I was worried about being annoying but she reassured me that me emailing her isn't annoying and that she loves reading my emails. Bless her! :-) So I think I need to keep in mind that a) she's actively encouraged me to email more and that b) I'm not being annoying if I email her. We're also going to experiment with using writing during sessions to see if that is useful.

Thanks for the suggestion though - and I will take a look. Sounds like it's working well for you as an additional resource, which is really great.

 

[Gadgie]

Quote........"calls. I find them quite clunky. And I don't like the thought of my face being beamed into someone's room"

When I face time my sister, it feels OK, as she only sees my face on her phone screen, and I just see her on my I/Pad screen, no one else is involved, it feels quite personal.

It's a great way to keep in touch, just wish it was available when I was working over seas, as I lost all contact with my family, as even letters took ages to reach me, and phone calls had to be booked at the exchange hours in advance, even then most times you never got a line?

If I ever do get the chance of therapy again, I will definitely make the best of it.

 

[Gadgie]

Quote....."Sounds like it's possibly a good option for you to explore yourself though?"

The only reason I mentioned that was because I'm presently on a two year waiting list to get therapy, and if it was at all possible, and available, I would certainly use such a system, instead of waiting all that time.

 

[watundah]

I wrote a bit to my therapist and she said it helps her to know me better. Since it's so tough for me to put together cohesive thoughts while in her office, I find it helps queue things up so Im not under pressure to put forth my ideas in a logical manner. And lets be honest, as much as her hourly fee is, I think it helps when we can have topics of discussion teed up before I get there because I am so much braver at home. Like, "next session, we should discuss THIS," then I go and think "hell, no, not saying THAT!"

 

[barefoot]

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I am so much braver at home. Like, "next session, we should discuss THIS," then I go and think "hell, no, not saying THAT!"

Ha! Yes...exactly! I'll sometimes text or email her ahead of session to say "I really want to talk about X, so if I sit and look like I've got nothing to say, please can you ask me about it?"
Which is a good plan in terms of making me accountable to myself so that I say what I want to say.

Trouble is, what generally then happens is that I don't bring it up in the session, so then at some point she will say, "So, I got your message....you wanted to talk about something...?" And then I will invariably sit and glare at her, furious and outraged that she's dared to mention ;-)

Sigh...it's complicated, isn't it?!


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