Poll How Long Have You Been In Therapy For Your Ptsd?

[Deleted member 1860]

Uhm, OP, did you not vote in your own poll? 'Cuz your post indicates you've been in therapy over 5 years, but I'm the only one who voted that way.

I know you want to feel better NOW, but unfortunately it doesn't work that way. I think you need to change your perception. You need to learn coping skills in order to do emdr, but these coping skills help you get better along the way. And yes, emdr CAN help, but it's not the end all and be all. (I personally found emdr to be a big unhelpful yawn, but to each their own) I think that you should look at healing as a process. Now you learn coping skills which will later enable you to process the trauma. After all, you can't run a marathon without training first!

 

[BloomInWinter]

My first T tried to get things out of me with hypnosis a few times but she said that it shook me up too much and that I had to stop. .

Here's some interesting info on hypnosis, which I sensed was not right for me years ago when it was offered while I was in college.

"successful ongoing treatment allows the survivor to confront increasingly more painful memories without exceeding the survivor's (now greater) self capacities. In combination, processing traumatic memory and increasing self resources can lead to a relatively self- sustaining process: As the need to avoid painful material lessens with treatment, memories, affects, and cognitions previously too overwhelming to de-suppress become more available for processing. As this new material is, in turn, desensitized and cognitively accommodated, self capacity is further improved and the overall stress level is further reduced -- thereby permitting access to (and processing of) even more previously unavailable material. Ultimately, treatment ends when traumatic material is sufficiently desensitized and integrated, and self resources are sufficiently learned and strengthened, that the survivor no longer experiences significant intrusive, avoidant, or dysphoric symptoms."

"This progressive function of self-trauma therapy removes the need for any so-called "memory recovery" techniques. Instead of relying on hypnosis or drug-assisted interviews, for example, to increase access to unavailable material, the self-trauma approach allows these memories to emerge naturally as a function of the therapeutic relationship and the survivor's reduced need for avoidance. Whereas some memory recovery techniques might easily exceed the therapeutic window and flood the survivor with destabilizing memories and affects, the current approach only allows access to trauma- or abuse-related material when, by definition, the therapeutic window has not been exceeded."

Source: Link Removed

I constantly berate myself for 'taking too long' to recover and press my T. for a timeline, but now I'm going to put that energy into trying to bring more distressing trauma into the talking realm instead of avoidance.

 

[Lionheart]

I was first Dx in 1990, but didn't start therapy until 1998 when I became physically very ill. So let's see ...........*counts on fingers ;) 14 years? ...wow

 

[Anna]

About 3 mths a very long time ago.

I was very self destructive for about 5 years. The worst time of my life, am so glad I survived it.

Got over it though. Still biting the bullet but I am becoming really tough which rocks.

 

[cat]

3 yrs therapy for me & its been the making of me.

I had 6mths counselling which at least got me to a point of saying i had a problem. Then 21/2 yrs with a psychologist, the first year was weekly appointments using a mix of EMDR, talking & exposure therapy. Then we gradually weaned me off therapy by extending the time between appointments. first 2 weekly then monthly then for the last 6 mths when i felt i needed one. I finished therapy in July 2011 & am very pleased to have managed the times when i would have liked to talk to my T, the future is looking brighter!

 

[Middle of Nowhere]

^

I started therapy for my Ptsd about 4 months ago. I have been in and out of psychologist offices since I was 12 years old. I don't remember any of those psychologists suggesting that I may have Ptsd. My guess is that my mom didn't like what they were telling her so she kept it a secret. My mom never really dealt with things very well. So, here I am at 41 years old trying, desperately, to sort through all the mess and keep myself from losing control. This forum has been very informative and comforting.[/quote

 

[Middle of Nowhere]

OOPs (Newbie)
I have been in therapy for six months, I am doing better according to everyone else. I have faith some days and some days I don't. But the good days are more than the bad now. For that I would give myself an atta girl.

 

[CaringMomma]

Way to go Middle of Nowhere!!! ...And, welcome to the forum!

 

[Emilie]

OOPs (Newbie)
I have been in therapy for six months, I am doing better according to everyone else. I have faith some days and some days I don't. But the good days are more than the bad now. For that I would give myself an atta girl.

Welcome to the forum, that's good to hear. you don't know how many days I've wanted to stop therapy when my faith was low, but hanging in there is really the best thing you can do for yourself even though it's crappy sometimes.

 

[Emilie]

ScaredOfLonely, I didn't even think of voting in my own poll, lol. I was just interested in seeing where everyone else was at.

Yea....I know...about that second part. It's frustrating. My T told me in the beginning "It's going to get worse before it gets better" and I'm in the "worse" part of treatment. Which apparently is good, because I'm being myself. So now I just need to cope, which makes my head want to explode sometimes. I have to force myself to do everything (go to sleep, eat, get out of the bed in the morning) Sometimes I feel like I can't move. Actually, my T has stated that a few times when my legs stopped working(I literally lost all movement in my legs and they locked, so I fell to the ground, I thought I had to go to the hospital but it went away in 5 minutes), it was because of the somatization of my fear

If it counts for anything though, I'm starting to get random aha moments where I feel better about myself- which hasn't ever happened before.

 

[Abrasky]

10 years of therapy. I was on a high dose of antideppressants for the first 6 years, then have been antideppressant free for 4.

It is frustrating how long it takes to get better.Wish there was a blue pill.

The wierdest symptom that happened to me was in the 10th year of my therapy, where I was walking home, and all of a sudden lost all the strength in my legs and couldn't move for 5 minutes. That was an emotional reaction, my blood sugars weren't the cause as I checked them twice.

 

[myself]

My mom forced me into theripy on and off from age 12 to 18, but my t was a nut job who was horrable and ketp doing the "it's gods will" responce to anything I told her, which I felt was inappropriate and wrong to tell a kid who went thru hell that it was god's will they got abused. I frequently got the feeling she didn't know how to deal with children that age who have the problems I have and went thru what I went thru. I quit going as soon as I was legally able to. She caused more damage than good, so I don't count that as theriputic or thripy, just torture. I could never open up to her, because anything I told her she would then tell my mom, who abused me and would use anything I told the t to tourture and manipulate me.

About two months ago I started seeing a new t. she is really good, and agrees that the things my old t did were unethical to say the least.