Double Session To Talk About Trauma?

[Hashi]

I'm preparing for a session with my therapist soon where I'll be talking about trauma. We've done this before, but have had a break recently. I know it's always difficult to do trauma processing in therapy, but this is something I'm particularly dreading disclosing.

I'm wondering about asking for a double session, or ideally a one-and-a-half-time session. I've no idea if she would even do that, but I wanted to ask if anyone else has done it and if so how it went?

My reasons for thinking about a longer session are:

There's a lot to cover anyway and as well as that I want to refer to several dreams.
I don't want to feel rushed.
I don't want it to span two sessions (one session works best for me).
I want to have enough time to rebalance at the end.

My reasons for thinking it might be best to stick to 50 minutes are:

I've always had 50 minute sessions, so changing the time might affect the stability that gives.
It might be too much to spend longer - a shorter time might contain it better.
Maybe I don't actually need it and the extra time would be redundant. I've always managed with 50 minutes before.

There's also the money aspect, but I think I'm beyond that now. I just want to do what will be best for healing.

Has anyone done a longer session for a particular discussion? If so, were you glad you did?

 

[maddog]

Hashi, I frequently do longer sessions, for all of the reasons you outlined. Personally I love them and take advantage of the opportunity whenever my therapist is able to schedule it. He is also a big believer in scheduling longer sessions for trauma processing, so we were very much on the same page about it. Not feeling rushed, and having time to talk through things at what is sometimes my necessary slow pace, and having time to balance and ground at the end, are all critical to my being able to walk out functional at the end. There are some categories of trauma discussion that I would choose not to even touch in a shorter session if given the choice, and some things my therapist just won't do with me in shorter sessions, such as EMDR.

That said, the "against" reasons you also outline are also valid, and the first port of call would be to check if, as you say, your therapist is even able to do this. Perhaps communicating your pros and cons list to her much as you hav done here, with a query as to her views and availability, would be useful?

I am a huge believer that time is critical in trauma therapy. Sadly, finances and the requirements of scheduling and competing commitments will never allow us all the time we need, but if it feels right to you to consider asking for this, I would cautiously suggest that it probably is.

Maddog

 

[Deleted member 1860]

I say go for it. I never did well with one session to process anything. I ended up going to a trauma center to process my trauma over a 2 week period, 7 hours a day roughly. After my experience there, I don't know how anyone gets much of anything done in only 45 minutes a week?

 

[ButterflyBean]

Hi Hashi,

I just wanted to chime in with my experience. My therapist and I started doing two-hour sessions periodically at my request before I was diagnosed with PTSD. (I've had depression and anxiety since age 14; I'm 24 now). We have a very strong relationship that is based on trust and support, but even so, she admitted to being skeptical about the effectiveness of a longer session when I asked if I have one. I asked for one because I was feeling overwhelmed and like I was unable to access the deeper issues. Anyway, she said yes, and having extra time has allowed me to feel comfortable talking through things at my own pace without feeling rushed! I always need her support but more so when I feel out of control, and/or I'm in crisis; we often use the double session as a preventive measure too - we have one approximately every 4-6 weeks.

Thus, I strongly recommend asking about a longer session if you feel it is needed and would be beneficial for you! The worst that can happen is that she is unable and/or unwilling to give you extra time, in which case I would ask why, but you won't know unless you ask right? This would be true even if you didn't have PTSD, but having it makes the request even more reasonable to me!

Good luck; that's just my two cents! Keep us posted on how it works if you can, and I wish you well on your journey toward healing!

~Holly

 

[Hashi]

Thank you for your responses.

I saw her yesterday to talk about something else and ran up against the end of session and felt rushed. It does seem like it would be a good idea to ask for longer for this. I didn't want to ask her until I'd thought it over myself a bit more first.

It's out of my comfort zone because containment is very important to me. Part of me feels like longer time means trauma work expanding and taking over, that I would be less in control. But it's useful to know that other people have found it helpful.

Solara, I understand what you mean and thought that myself when I started therapy. I've found 50 minutes a week is effective for me in general because I'm also doing my own processing around that. I have to spend a lot of time preparing for a 50 minute session, a lot of time assimilating it afterwards and the sessions are so intense, it's enough for me. Different things suit different people of course and I can see that intensive processing in a therapy setting could be helpful too.