Flashbacks A Choice????

[Lucycat]

well done for having the discussion with your T. but I must say I don't like himLink Removed!!
Good that he admits his limitations, but what good is that to you? Perhaps he should be looking at his own skills of dealing with your dis.ing. I understand what he is saying about not feeling emotions, and I don't yet either, but that is also not a choice. I am trying to learn how to.

I understand that it is not easy to change T. I too am 'stuck' with mine, but he is great and I don't want or need to change. As you say maybe things will improve now that you have spoken with him. He will be thinking long and hard too I hope.Link Removed

 

[Blutarg]

I think you achieved a lot by discussing your concerns with him, well done. As Brucielucie says, it is good that he admits his limitations. Perhaps you have given him something to think about and he will go away and research a bit more and that will, in turn, lead to improved therapy for you if nothing else. Or, if he finds that this is out of his league, he may actually refer you. The only way to sort anything out is through communication so keep on doing that and when you feel that you don't understand something speak your mind as you have done - it gets results Link Removed. But, if you feel you aren't getting anywhere then you have to tell him. I hope it goes well from here. Link Removed

 

[anthony]

Flashbacks and dissociation are symptoms and mechanisms that the brain uses when under enormous stress. The brains stress threshold before PTSD would have likely been higher, with PTSD, it reduces.

You cannot treat the symptoms, you treat the cause and the symptoms just remove all by themselves, because your brain is no longer in a heightened or stressed state.

There is a choice, yes... but its not directly whether you can stop a flashback... its whether you heal trauma at the emotional level and actually accept and resolve negative emotion. Tackling that is your choice.

 

[Steph4]

My therapist would never leave me alone in his office in that state. He doesn't get upset and has never said I am wasting his time. I think he would be appalled. He is the owner of the clinic I go to, I don't think he would be thrilled with anyone there doing it either.

When I become disassociative I can become quite frightened. He tries to get me to maintain eye contact as much as possible, do deep breathing, and we work very hard at me not going into flashback mode from that point. I have a special blanket there to hold , it helps me ground myself in reality, so hopefully I can stay more present. But he would never get up and leave me in that condition. And I don't think I would want him too.
Stephanie

 

[dolphin]

I am not to knowledgable with dissociation. I am just beginning my road to recovery through therapy. But I feel that someone needs to tell you this: there is a real possibility that your T is actually making you worse by leaving you in this state. He is someone who you trust and have confided in and he has openly expressed that he has more important things to deal with when you are dissociating. If I were in your shoes I would feel betrayed by this. When you are on the road to recovery, you need to surround yourself with supportive people so you can begin to trust again. Your T should be the most supportive. And you should never feel stressed or anxious when going to him. I think you need to get away from this T as quickly as you can. He appears to be doing more damage than good. I feel horrible saying this to you but if your subconscious feels betrayed by him than it will only get worse and you will have a lot of difficulty opening up to another T. Thinking of you.

 

[dolphin]

Okay, so I wrote this response a year later. I hope things turned out okay with your T.