LoveMyNavyChief!
Bronze Member
Do what feels comfortable for you. Good response to give yourself some time to digest this. The answer will come.
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Camera In Therapist Office
- Post starter Teamwork
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I've been thinking a lot about this thread while I was walking my dog. It occurred to me that most of the posts have been very negative in outlook. Perhaps it would be better to be more positve.
I understand that cameras are a trigger for you and the current situation made you very frightened. Despite that you contacted your therapist to seek clarity and you sought support here. You didn't let PTSD make those decisions. You did that yourself. That is a big step forward whether you intended to take it or not.
I wish you the strength to continue over-ruling your PTSD and making your own decisions.
I understand that cameras are a trigger for you and the current situation made you very frightened. Despite that you contacted your therapist to seek clarity and you sought support here. You didn't let PTSD make those decisions. You did that yourself. That is a big step forward whether you intended to take it or not.
I wish you the strength to continue over-ruling your PTSD and making your own decisions.
AngelKeeperJ
Sponsor
I am SO SORRY that this has happened to you! I would be upset as well, since you had to discover it on your own.
I am in therapy through my church, with an intern, who is almost finished with her schooling. Because she is not licensed yet, there is a camera being used. BUT, she told me at our first session, before I began talking.
She is required to be "audited" until she receives her license. I had the option of the camera facing me, or not facing me and only the audio being recorded. I didn't care either way, as I understand that it is part of her learning, and being critiqued by her instructors.
Being completely up front with the client is VITAL!!! You DO have a right to be upset that you were not told. At your next meeting, I would ask your T why he didn't tell you about it. Trust is HUGE, ESPECIALLY in the therapeutic environment. His only excuse, I think, is that he forgot to tell you that it was being used. It's a poor excuse, but it would be honest.
I DO understand that this will most likely be on your mind until you see him again, but try, if you can, to realize that the camera is a protection for you, and him.
It keeps you safe from a predatory therapist (unfortunately, there are many) and it keeps him safe. T's have been threatened and actually killed by clients that have gone completely insane.The fact that it is in a play room is not surprising, due to the MANY things that are brought into the light with children. They need to be protected from ANY chance of abuse as well as their words and actions being used in custody issues, or in needing to prove, or disprove abuse or trauma.
No matter what, you had, and HAVE a right to know the status of the camera being on or off, pointed at or away from you. With that knowledge, you have a right to agree, or seek treatment elsewhere.
Blessings of Peace to you! :hug: (Gentle hug if accepted)
AKJ
I am in therapy through my church, with an intern, who is almost finished with her schooling. Because she is not licensed yet, there is a camera being used. BUT, she told me at our first session, before I began talking.
She is required to be "audited" until she receives her license. I had the option of the camera facing me, or not facing me and only the audio being recorded. I didn't care either way, as I understand that it is part of her learning, and being critiqued by her instructors.
Being completely up front with the client is VITAL!!! You DO have a right to be upset that you were not told. At your next meeting, I would ask your T why he didn't tell you about it. Trust is HUGE, ESPECIALLY in the therapeutic environment. His only excuse, I think, is that he forgot to tell you that it was being used. It's a poor excuse, but it would be honest.
I DO understand that this will most likely be on your mind until you see him again, but try, if you can, to realize that the camera is a protection for you, and him.
It keeps you safe from a predatory therapist (unfortunately, there are many) and it keeps him safe. T's have been threatened and actually killed by clients that have gone completely insane.The fact that it is in a play room is not surprising, due to the MANY things that are brought into the light with children. They need to be protected from ANY chance of abuse as well as their words and actions being used in custody issues, or in needing to prove, or disprove abuse or trauma.
No matter what, you had, and HAVE a right to know the status of the camera being on or off, pointed at or away from you. With that knowledge, you have a right to agree, or seek treatment elsewhere.
Blessings of Peace to you! :hug: (Gentle hug if accepted)
AKJ
Changing4Best
VIP Member
One time a therapist asked me if it was OK to video tape our session so his supervisor could see the results and see how he was doing. I said yes, but when it came down to actually focusing on our session, I could not do so at all. All I could think of was the camera, which was pointing at ME! I did not understand, and I still do not understand, why if it was supposed to be a critique for my therapist, why on earth was it pointing at me? I said, shortly after the session started, that I could not focus on our session, at which point he turned off the camera and put it away. I still was flustered after that, but somehow eventually managed to get focused back onto the session.
Soon thereafter, my therapist was no longer able to see me, and I was given another therapist. Apparently all his sessions had to be critiqued, and so he no longer wanted to work with me. He was on some kind of internship.
I had thought that the sessions and the focus of the sessions and the purpose of the sessions were for the patient, not the therapist! I no longer see a therapist from that group. I want the focus to be on ME, my progress, and not on how well the interning therapist is doing. I'm not sure how they can critique a therapist, while at the same time keeping privacy matters and all those kinds of concerns at the forefront. But one thing I know for sure is that doing what they did was not achieving that!
Soon thereafter, my therapist was no longer able to see me, and I was given another therapist. Apparently all his sessions had to be critiqued, and so he no longer wanted to work with me. He was on some kind of internship.
I had thought that the sessions and the focus of the sessions and the purpose of the sessions were for the patient, not the therapist! I no longer see a therapist from that group. I want the focus to be on ME, my progress, and not on how well the interning therapist is doing. I'm not sure how they can critique a therapist, while at the same time keeping privacy matters and all those kinds of concerns at the forefront. But one thing I know for sure is that doing what they did was not achieving that!
joeylittle
Sponsor
@Links - I want to say, I think you are doing a great job here. Coming back to the thread was probably a bit of a challenge, and whatever you decide to do - it's commendable that you are staying in this discussion, here. Well done on that.
With PTSD - we are all exposed to our individual triggers, almost constantly. What ends up getting better is not that we figure out how to eliminate all the triggers; we learn how to filter some of them, and some, we work on so they aren't triggering anymore. It's always a process of negotiating with yourself - "can I handle this right now? How much of it? How many things are coming into play right now?"...because of course, it's almost always more than one thing.
A poster said this:
This is why the whole situation is both tough, and an opportunity. People who are giving you reasons why this might not be a crisis are not trying to diminish your suffering - they are giving you ways to do what is known as 'challenging the thought'.
Our work as clients outside of session is to challenge our own thinking until we get to that point where we don't know how to understand it on our own. Those are things we can then bring to the therapist, and/or we can bring to peer support (here) - to help us think it through some more.
I was happy to read this from you:
Can you try and write a little more about the first one: you said, it's a surveillance camera for him, but it's different for you - what does it mean for you, or what thought does it bring up - is it about the T, or the abusers? Both?.
Eventually, I did bring it up. And we worked through it. Now, it's part of our scheduling that we take into account who else in the office has a lot of appointments booked during the time we are planning on doing hard work. Now, I'm back to doors not being as bad, even during those times.
This is just to say - what you are going through is very common. And although it would be awesome if the relationship side of working with a therapist was a non-issue all the time, the fact is, it's probably one of the more complicated human interactions that exists. Eventually, there's stuff that is about you and the therapist...and that is all part of the whole process. You are navigating how you want to handle this. And handling it will also be part of your own therapy journey, your own progress.
So, none of this is about negotiation with the therapist. Or even compromise. It's all about using therapy to pull apart and work through the various 'hot' thoughts that are there as a result of the trauma. Those are the things that you are working on, and this is just another way to work on them. If that makes sense.
We do have a saying here - "Take what's useful, leave the rest". PTSD support has a lot to do with being both validated and challenged. Both are useful, at different times - and you are the person who can ultimately decide what is useful, when. Just know that it's coming from a lot of people who really understand exactly where you are coming from. You aren't alone in any of this.
Hope something in there helps.
With PTSD - we are all exposed to our individual triggers, almost constantly. What ends up getting better is not that we figure out how to eliminate all the triggers; we learn how to filter some of them, and some, we work on so they aren't triggering anymore. It's always a process of negotiating with yourself - "can I handle this right now? How much of it? How many things are coming into play right now?"...because of course, it's almost always more than one thing.
A poster said this:
But its important to remember that the big goal, the end goal of therapy is to do the work you need to do around the trauma AND do the work you need to do on management skills, so that the "mere thought" of something no longer has that kind of power over your mind. In other words - there's a balance, always, between challenging yourself and keeping yourself as stable as you can.
This is why the whole situation is both tough, and an opportunity. People who are giving you reasons why this might not be a crisis are not trying to diminish your suffering - they are giving you ways to do what is known as 'challenging the thought'.
Our work as clients outside of session is to challenge our own thinking until we get to that point where we don't know how to understand it on our own. Those are things we can then bring to the therapist, and/or we can bring to peer support (here) - to help us think it through some more.
I was happy to read this from you:
These are really concrete, really great. You are identifying the three thoughts that are most difficult for you. In CBT, these would be called the 'hot' thoughts.
Can you try and write a little more about the first one: you said, it's a surveillance camera for him, but it's different for you - what does it mean for you, or what thought does it bring up - is it about the T, or the abusers? Both?.
I have a personal story, maybe it will help. When I'm doing trauma processing, I have to use a lot of focus to keep myself at a workable distance from my own memories. The sound of a door closing was a large trigger. Big trigger. Now (about 2 years later) I'm down to, it's only problematic if I'm really tired and talking about something hard. My therapist works in a group - and suddenly, one week, it was like the entire session was nothing but doors opening and closing. And, it happened again the next week. And I started to get really, really upset, because I couldn't function in there anymore. It was two things - I was terrified of doors again, and I was upset at my therapist for seeming like I was to accept it - like it was actually manageable. And then, that thought opened up this whole trap door about believing that he actually had no awareness of what was really going on with me, and I had been talking to him for a long time about this stuff that he didn't understand, didn't care about - even though he said he did....it became a mess in my head, which made it even harder to talk about.
Eventually, I did bring it up. And we worked through it. Now, it's part of our scheduling that we take into account who else in the office has a lot of appointments booked during the time we are planning on doing hard work. Now, I'm back to doors not being as bad, even during those times.
This is just to say - what you are going through is very common. And although it would be awesome if the relationship side of working with a therapist was a non-issue all the time, the fact is, it's probably one of the more complicated human interactions that exists. Eventually, there's stuff that is about you and the therapist...and that is all part of the whole process. You are navigating how you want to handle this. And handling it will also be part of your own therapy journey, your own progress.
So, none of this is about negotiation with the therapist. Or even compromise. It's all about using therapy to pull apart and work through the various 'hot' thoughts that are there as a result of the trauma. Those are the things that you are working on, and this is just another way to work on them. If that makes sense.
Hey, totally.
We do have a saying here - "Take what's useful, leave the rest". PTSD support has a lot to do with being both validated and challenged. Both are useful, at different times - and you are the person who can ultimately decide what is useful, when. Just know that it's coming from a lot of people who really understand exactly where you are coming from. You aren't alone in any of this.
Hope something in there helps.
- Post starter
- #55
What is different for me is that I am aware it was a more than one parts out session. At one point in the session he said, wow that is a really rapid switch less than a second and your getting thrown back out, that must be difficult. Another he asked about a gesture, a hand swiping across the eyes that I don't think I made. So with this being a multiple rapid switching session that I don't have full access to and don't know what switching looks like it upsets me that it was filmed. That's pretty much what is going on in my head. I don't think he does cbt but body awareness and he asked for someone who was angry to come out because he wanted to know who looked at him with contempt. If he succeeded in that part coming out, what happened? I don't know. So it's not a lot about audio but I suppose the whole what did that look like.
VICTORIA WILLIS
New Here
Absolutely! That's unethical.
I'd drop your t like a hot potato!
joeylittle
Sponsor
Does it relate to shame about what your switching might look like? Or...? If you had to describe the feeling more, what do you think it would be? (No pressure to answer BTW, only if it's helpful)
- Post starter
- #58
I think maybe, it's the first time to have to consider what it looks like. There's typically sessions where I'm aware that he talks to whoever is out. Or in this case where I know from some of what he said that there was rapid switching, that he wanted to deal with an angry part and asked them to come up. That having in rain and not being able to handle being out of the house in the rain was really stressful and that I recognize I didn't take the rain part so I don't recall the going in that room. I don't have all things being shared yet, communication isn't being shared from inside as to what he was working on or with and he doesn't share what he was working on or with whom. It's a one hour session every two weeks, but in between he does email a lot. So I don't know if it's shame or just feeling like I do not have control so what does being out of control look like and to my dismay it was taped and no choice. Hope that makes a degree of sense?
Friday
Sponsor
Another way to look at that is the bolded part right there.
Instead of a breach of trust?
You brought a problem to him, he was honest about it instead of telling you a lie to manipulate you, AND he's immediately agreed to action that problem, from now on out.
Sounds like the opposite of breaching trust, to me. Much less a huge breach of trust. It sounds like he listened, understood, took you completely seriously, respected you with the truth, and is taking steps so it doesn't happen, again.
Friday
Sponsor
Cameras in play rooms -in psych- usually serve 2 purposes (and in some places it's illegal NOT to have them)
1. Protection of the children // to insure that any & all interaction with vulnerable kids is monitored.
2. Privacy for Children from their Parents. Both good parents, and bad parents. It can be hard to talk about bad things in front of your good parents when you're little, and even the best parents can react/respond in a way that doesn't help their kids when they find out that they've been raped, or assaulted, or in some other way hurt... or the details of those things. (Some parents really do lose it when they find out their baby has been hurt. Screaming, crying, rage, puking, fainting, self harm, suicidal... Uncontrollable visceral reactions of unbearable pain). Which is why even where it isn't illegal to not have them, for kids protection, a lot of places do, to make it easier for kids. So that little kids aren't put in the position of trying to protect their good parents from the truth / don't have to be grown ups, AND so that when their parents are their abusers? The opposite. They don't have to have their abuser in the room, or be afraid of telling the truth. So good parents have a little bit of space to collect themselves and be the strong and loving person their kid needs them to be; while bad parents are not allowed to threaten & terrify their kids into silence and lies.
Why are cameras usually in play rooms in child psych?
Protection & Kindness.
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