Considering Quitting Therapy

[ptsdkate]

(I also posted this in the Sexual Abuse forum - I am looking for as much feedback as possible, so I'm posting it here as well.)​

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I started therapy after my PTSD was retriggered by someone attempting to lure my son about a year and a half ago. I had worked through my feelings about both my childhood and adulthood sexual assaults, and had made peace with who I am now. Then the luring incident happened, and my PTSD came back, full-blown and awful.

I have worked hard on therapy, and am taking Zoloft now. I'm feeling much more like I felt before the luring incident. Going to therapy has recently become a stressful thing for me. At first therapy felt like (icky analogies coming up here) lancing an abscess, a necessary surgery in order to relieve pressure, pain and infection. Now it feels more like picking at a scab, instead of letting it alone to heal. I think it may be time to step back from therapy and see how I'm doing.

Has anyone else done this? Am I way off base?​

 

[cherryblossom]

This is the same reply that I put on SSA forum, but thought I would put it here too, in case someone else might benefit from it.

I think it's a very personal decision, that only you can assess. To assess it, I think you need to be able to be brutally honest with yourself.

Firstly, my personal opinion is that for therapy to work/help, you have to be 100% committed to it, however hard and difficult it may be. If you are not committed, then it's a waste of time. So in that sense, if you feel you need a break to step back and evaluate then do it.

However, if you feel you still have issues, then therapy is worth pursuing...... but only if you are committed to resolving those issues.

Also, you have to take the anti-depressants into consideration. Do you think they help you? If so, are you happy to be on them forever? If you want to stop them, would it be worth having a therapist on hand to deal with stuff that comes up when you stop them?

I'm not asking for you to answer the questions - but they are questions you need to ask yourself.

I don't see anything wrong with stopping therapy, or taking a break to evaluate - so long as you are completely honest with yourself about how you are doing. If you are stopping therapy to avoid talking about difficult things then I would not recommend it. But if you are stopping therapy, because you are pleased with your progress and feel you can't go any further, then good for you.

Only you can decide what is right, and whether your motives are right. I sincerely hope that you are in a good place and that you can now lead a happy and fullfilled life :)

 

[Sterre]

Now it feels more like picking at a scab, instead of letting it alone to heal.

As Cherryblossom already wrote, the descision to quit therapy is a descision only you can make.

Have you talked about this with your therapist? What's His/her point of view in this matter?

My belief is that when you are in doubt about quitting or follow throug with therapy, maybe you schould follow therapy till you feel more secure about ending it.
There arent always major breaktrough's, and every healing proces has it's own stages, maybe this is just a stage in therapy?

Is there a possibility to put more time between appointments to see how you feel and manage without therapy?

Good luck!

 

[kers]

I've not yet ended therapy, but I've been told that I'll know when it's time because it won't seem necessary anymore; that is, I'll want to spend that time and money elsewhere, and I'll have less and less to talk about.

The feeling that you are 'picking at a scab' seems very powerful to me--why a scab, and not a scar? Do you see that scab as nearly healed, one that needs only time and distance? I would suggest bringing this in to your next session so you can discuss where you are now, where (if anywhere) you want to be when you end therapy, and comparing the two to decide whether you're there yet.

 

[Heather]

Hi Kate - just curious if you've come to a decision about your therapy? And if so, what is it.

My reasons for not wanting to continue are different than yours. I haven't seen mine in 3 weeks, partly because he was sick and then I had to have surgery but now he's better and so am I. I just have no desire to deal with him or any issues. So, I guess it's futile to go until I feel differently.

 

[Ted Moen]

I was in therapy from 1984-85, decided I didn't really need it anymore. I ended up back in therapy 1987-1988, decided I didn't need it anymore. I ended up back in therapy 1991-1992, decided I didn't need it anymore. I was evacuated from a military exercise in 1995 and ended up back in therapy and I am still in contact with my individual therapist. From 1995 to around 2003 I saw her weekly, sometimes more often. Beginning in 2003 we agreed I no longer needed weekly sessions and scaled back gradually, initially every 2 weeks, then monthly, then quarterly, and now (starting this year) no scheduled appointments but she's there if I need to see her.

I think ptsd is like a knotted up ball of yarn which needs to be unraveled layer by layer, knot by knot. Each layer is protecting a deeper layer. Layers are uncomfortable to address, knots are terrifying. If therapy is not somewhere between uncomfortable and terrifying, your either don't need it or aren't really participating. If you reach that last layer, unravel that last knot, you will know. Your therapist will know. It will be time to taper off.

Ted

 

[ptsdkate]

Hi Kate - just curious if you've come to a decision about your therapy? And if so, what is it.

I've decided to table therapy for right now. We've had a serious scare with my husband's health, and he's going to need open-heart surgery very soon. Right now all of my energy and time is being poured into trying to untangle the snarl of confusion that is involved with getting second opinions, tests, and insurance approval for such an expensive, dangerous surgery. I'm also supposed to have eye surgery on both eyes over the course of the next couple of months. And of course, I have two young children. I simply don't have any energy left to devote to therapy right now.

Interestingly, since I stopped going to therapy, I haven't had nearly so many flashbacks, body memories, and anxiety attacks. I realize that those increase when you are making progress in therapy, and I know my therapist and I were making good progress. I hope that I won't lose the good progress that we've made. But for now, with all the other stress on us, I'm glad to have fewer emotional upsets to deal with!

 

[Heather]

Sounds like you made the right decision. Hope everything goes smoothly for you and your over the upcoming months. Wishing you the best. Heather