How Many Times Have You Been In Therapy?

[Seagreen]

I'm just wondering how many times people have been in therapy for their ptsd and for what durations? I hope that this isn't a depressing topic (but then again it is a ptsd forum).

 

[Cool Cat]

haha too many times! Sometimes I sit and count all the money I've spent on therapy and JESUS that in itself is traumatic

 

[Deleted member 1860]

Please clarify, before or after diagnosis. It took some of us decades++++ to simply get a diagnosis.

 

[Lucycat]

That is a difficult question to answer. I have only 'been in' therapy once - but that has now been for 5 years. I can go weeks or months between sessions or I can see my T several times in a week. Whatever is required. Other people might interpret that as going in and out of therapy. My therapy is all on the National Health Service (NHS) so it is not as if there are contracts and payment schedules that might define periods of therapy in other countries.

 

[Cool Cat]

Please clarify, before or after diagnosis.

Yeah actually thats a very good point. My current T doesn't give out diagnosis's but has absolutely no qualms saying I'm traumatised. I was initially told (by my first T) that I was depressed/anxious, and wasted 6 months in therapy for that.

 

[Namenotdiagnosis]

18 years of physcologists, phyciatrists , anger management , confidence and self esteem building, CBT, EMDR, EFT, faster EFT, acupuncture and more , lol and still going strong!!!

 

[Seagreen]

Please clarify, before or after diagnosis. It took some of us decades++++ to simply get a diagnosis.

My question is too general for some people so if that is the case you are welcome to elaborate on your reply. I'm interested in whatever you have to say.

I feel that I was in therapy because of my PTSD long before it was diagnosed despite not getting a diagnoses until the 3rd time. I was treated for other things first including depression and OCD.
Years later I was diagnosed with PTSD and so went into therapy again. New therapist this time. After 2 years I left to focus on something else. Now I'm thinking of going back. Its kind of ignorant but I didn't realise therapy might be a re-occurring thing. I just thought that once I was "fixed" it would be over. I'm learning that PTSD doesn't work that way. Thanks to those who have shared their experiences.

 

[Chava]

A few, on and off over many years. Initially it was regular psychiatrist and clinical psychologists, one supposedly one of the best for eating disorders in my part of the country. Ph.Ds, medications, hospitalizations...useless. Helped almost not at all, so I quit. I think for many of us it's a process of finding what works. My stuff is really somatic oriented and I don't have words or actually can not talk. CBT therapy was helpful for some anxiety stuff, but not the trauma stuff or self-destruction, which was where my eating disorder came from.

Recent therapist specializes in trauma treatment but I won't be able to afford treatment long if my new insurance doesn't cover it or help a lot. If it turns out that way I suppose I'll quit again, but not of my choice because it does seem like the right kind of therapy...but then I'll probably find a way to coast through the rest of my life without expectations of changing much because it's too exhausting to go through this. It takes me a couple years to warm up to anyone, so most therapy has not been helpful. I have a really thick bubble and it doesn't seem to go away. So for one, this recovery takes time. I have a lot of bad habits that actually help me get by. Transforming that stuff doesn't happen in a couple weeks. I've seen this therapist I think the longest and it might have to arbitrarily end when I'm not ready. Screw therapy. I think it's important but we aren't guaranteed any help in life. That's just a deep reminder of my regular sh#t and I don't need that. So I'm angry at the whole need for therapy and want to go back to not needing anything but living more subdued (somehow without starving myself).

Anyway, it seems that new challenges simply come up with the changes of life. But also, the trauma stuff and trust stuff seems difficult to get through. So it doesn't seem uncommon to go through a long process of finding a therapist...or "recovering" and finding a sort of safe level of existence and then being triggered by new circumstances or challenges. That seems to be my stuff. I had to finally gain weight and recover from unresolved eating disorder...developed panic attacks and chronic pain and I also just shut down a lot. It's been an adjustment I couldn't make well but felt I had no choice because my health was so bad. I just can't cope without that numbing or whatever it was doing for me.

 

[Friday]

Technically... Never.

Practically... Professionals involved
- 3 days for an actual diagnosis (late 90s)
- 1.5 weeks in 30 day drug/alcohol treatment, told not an addict, need PTSD tx (early 00s)
- 1 year in weekly apt standard counseling (last year) ... Which I wouldn't count, but they spent most of the year convincing me I need to find a trauma therapist & sort out the PTSD stuff. (not their field / not what I was there for).

 

[Kintsugi]

I was in therapy from ages 12-17. I then went to college and was in and out of therapy for anywhere from one session to a couple months of weekly sessions while in therapy, and I saw a psychiatrist for a few semesters.

I was also briefly back with my old T for a month or two while in college over the summer when I was really losing my grip.

This year I saw a grief counselor weekly in a group setting for six or eight weeks.

I've been out of college for three years this December.

 

[Karen12]

I saw the first therapist for a few months when I was home on a summer break from college. Then I did group and individual therapy on campus for several years, maybe three or four, I can't remember exactly. I had an excellent individual therapist off-campus for about two years - that was when the majority of the hard work was done.

I'm glad I did it back when session notes and patient information were all hand-written. Those records probably haven't existed for decades. I'd never see a therapist now.

 

[Leigh925]

A very short term stint 22 years ago when I had my first child was so afraid I would screw her up and not be able to protect her like my parents had done with me.

Then didn't go back for ten years. Went for a couple of months. Tried several different ones.

Then started four years ago after being retraumatized and mostly trying to help my son so a few family sessions here and there.

Absolute desperation and exhaustion drove me to the therapist I have seen now twice a week for a year and a half...after all these years I am finally getting answers and taking care of me!