Intensive Trauma Therapy

[Deleted member 1860]

That's a lot for me to process! But, here goes...

The reason I chose the program was because I was unable to process my trauma in regular therapy. This was a MAJOR road block for me, as I've learned CBT, I've been in neurotherapy to tackle my physical symptoms, I've seen so many therapists who weren't really able to help me. So it was a last resort of sorts as I knew that most other programs would involve a lot of group work, and I was at the point where I needed a lot of individual care. The reason I was unable to process my trauma in regular therapy was because my therapists were not trained well enough in preventing me from reliving my trauma. I *seemed* ok during the sessions, but 2-3 days later, major dissociation/depersonalization would set in, and I was unable to pull myself out of it, even though I know how to pull myself out of flashbacks. (And this major dissociation/depersonalization happened ONLY when I tried to process my trauma.) The big pull toward this program, for me, was the newer way of processing the trauma, not discussing it as "I" but rather as "little 'scaredoflonely'", as in the perspective of an outside observer, the trauma happening to you, but you're watching from a certain distance away. So all went well with the processing, which included this form of guided visualization revisiting the trauma, drawing the trauma story, having the story re-presented to me, and working on dialoguing with my inner thoughts and feelings.

I do believe the therapy helped me. It's hard to say that from my perspective, rather my family noticed a great change in me following my two week stay in Morgantown. Of course, you don't come out of a program and bam, you're all better, but I do believe it helped me to move in a positive direction. I'm still unable to work and don't expect that to change for awhile. However, I am taking community college classes again. Anyone who knows how terrified I am of school knows that this is a huge step for me! I'm also trying to become more social, reconnecting with friends and such. I still have my ups and downs, but overall I do recommend the program.

Simply being able to process my trauma was wonderful, but the part that I'm able to take away from the program is the ability to get in touch with my inner thoughts and feelings. This is introduced in the program via dialoguing, either written or with puppets. Written dialogue proved agitating to me, but working with puppets was actually fun! Now I'm to the point where if I'm feeling angry or frustrated or anxious, I can check inside and see which part of me is having an issue, talk to that part, and things tend to calm down. I know this may sound a little confusing, but I urge you to ask the people at ITT more about this process as they can explain it better than I can!

If you have any other questions, please ask! (It helps if you "like" my post or quote it as then it shows up in my alerts and I know I need to come back to this thread)

 

[Marita]

That's a lot for me to process! But, here goes...

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply! My husband will give me grief about spending more money on therapy so it will help me to know that the program does work.

I am happy to hear that you are doing better and participating in life again!I do realize that recovery is a slow process. But just like in your situation my daughter is seeing therapists that are just not trained in dealing with trauma. So that is going nowhere!I do feel that this is kind of a last resort for her too. And if it helps her in any way, I am willing to give it a try.

I do have one more question. How many hours of therapy does it involve (I think they state it is about 35 hours per week)? Did you actually get that many hours of individual therapy? And what kind of therapy was it? Did they adjust it to your individual needs?

I am sorry that you did have to experience trauma in your life! But I do admire how brave and determined you are (my daughter is just the same) to overcome this roadblock and move on with your life! (Sometimes I think that I would just throw in the towel if I had to deal with anxiety every single day of my life. You are strong people, really!)

 

[Deleted member 1860]

My parents were the same way... I was feeling like I was at a dead end, therapy wise, but my dad actually found the program and urged me to look into it. He found them in August of last summer, and I delayed contacting them until October, I believe. I visited them in early November, and my therapy started the week after Thanksgiving. This is a slower time of year for them, so hopefully they have openings soon. I only had to wait about 3 weeks between making my final decision to attend and actually starting the program, which was pretty good. I was told that during other times of the year the wait is much longer. I was afraid of the large price tag, but my parents opted to pay as (obviously) insurance covered none of it. I'm so glad it helped as if it didn't, I would probably have a guilt complex over the money! (Financial issues have always stressed me out!)

The schedule is something like this...

8:30 arrival/start...morning meeting with the team. (The first day is a bit longer as you meet with everyone and go into a bit of depth about your history, what you want to get out of the program, etc)
noonish...lunch for an hour (this is flexible depending on what type of activities you're doing, and finding a good stopping place)
4:00ish....wrap up, usually with a part of the team, so you leave by 4:30

They state 35 hours of individual therapy a week, but that is based on the 8:30am start time and 4:30pm end time with an hour for lunch. It doesn't take into account the morning meeting with everyone, the afternoon meeting with everyone (which I don't count as "therapy"). So roughly subtract a 30-45 minutes a day for these two activities. Then sometimes you would get to the end of one part of therapy, for example I would finish my artwork, but the next portion of therapy, the re-presentation, wasn't scheduled to start until later, so there were times that I had downtime as well. It wasn't more than 15 or so minutes, and I don't see this as a bad thing, per se, as it gave me a breather! (To be fair, they are very good at scheduling. The intake person lays out a rough schedule based on the info you provide beforehand, and the schedule is updated day to day based on your progress. It's nearly impossible to determine exactly how much time any one part of the therapy is going to take.) And for me, I was able to get through the first three parts of processing fairly quickly, so I had a number of days at the end to focus on the dialogue process. They were able to accommodate for my moving through the stages so quickly. I also had one "freak out" day...yes, this was expected! They say everyone has one at some point, and I can't remember, but it usually happens on the same day of therapy for most people. (So don't be too surprised if this happens to your daughter.)

The type of therapy...Well, it's in four main stages.

Stage 1... Re-visiting the trauma as an "outside observer" through guided visualization. (I was shocked at how well this worked for me!) Most therapists have you talk about your trauma in the first person, using "I", "me", "my", etc. This has the potential to make you relive what happened to you, and become re-traumatized. (This is what happened to me in the past.) By using the concept of the "outside observer" I was able to view my trauma without becoming drawn down again. And the benefit of seeing it as a third party in the room was that I could view what happened more objectively rather than solely through emotion. I think it was explained to me as viewing the event from a camera. The therapists knew when I was becoming too emotionally wrapped up into the trauma and told me to pull my perspective back, I think it was from the height of the ceiling in the house to outside the house, and it worked! So long story short, this therapy helps to process the trauma and look at what happened to you without re-living it. (I hope this makes sense!) This whole step is guided. The therapist is in the room with you and guides you through things, asks you things, etc. Nothing is suggested or coerced. Sometimes I literally would say "I don't know" and the question would be re-phrased or I was given more time, then we would move on. This part of the therapy is taped, but you have the option of having the camera record only your voice and not your image. (I opted for this as I hate to be on tape.) Oh, and the therapist starts you out in a happy place, and leaves you in a happy place. That is, you were happy before the trauma, and you had happy moments after the trauma. This is also key for getting your mind out of being stuck in the trauma itself.

Stage 2...drawing out the trauma. You sit down with a therapist and draw out every scene of the trauma, as well as a happy "before" picture and happy "after" picture. (The continuum is stressed over and over and over again as we tend to get stuck in the traumatic moment, failing to see that we were happy before and had happy times after, as well)

Stage 3...re-presentation. All of the pictures you drew are put on the wall and your trauma story is read back to you. They avoid saying "you", "yours", etc, rather a third person name such as "little scaredoflonely". The happy before and after is included. This part is also taped.

Stage 4... Dialoguing. This is the process whereby you identify dominant thoughts and feelings, and communicate directly with those thoughts and feelings. I started out using the right hand asking the questions, with the left hand answering (written, of course), but this agitated me beyond belief so we switched to puppets (They have a toy room with lots and lots of puppets) This worked so well and I got so much out of it. I think I got more out of the dialoging than anything else! It was amazing how I was able to tap into my inner thoughts and feelings and give them a voice! This part is also taped.

The taped parts are put onto a DVD so you can watch them later (I never have), or give them to your regular therapist (My therapist has seen my DVD.)

I hope this gives you a better idea about the program. You can ask me more questions, but I also urge you to get any needed clarification directly from ITT. I got much of my information about the program from another person who had gone through it, and unfortunately there was a miscommunication and I assumed something that wasn't true! (Nobody's fault really, it was just a misunderstanding.) And, of course, since it is a fairly new program, they are always adding things and updating their process. I'm sure that certain things have changed in the 10 months since I've been there.

And thank you so much! I'm sure your daughter is a strong person, just as you are a strong mother who is fighting to see that she gets better. My dad is the same sort of support for me. I'm fortunate to have him, just as your daughter is fortunate to have you!

 

[Marita]

Thank you so much! This information is very helpful!

And wow you sound so much like my daughter (she as well has been stressed out about money since she was small).

Thanks again for taking the time to answer all my questions!

 

[Autumncolors]

Earlier this year, I contacted the Freedoms Calling Intensive Trauma Therapy Institute in Brunswick, Georgia and inquired about treatment.

I provided them with my entire trauma history, filled out there trauma forms and went through there intake /assessment process.

They told me I was accepted for treatment and I would need to come for two weeks based on my trauma history.

The day I was going to pay for treatment they abruptly dropped me via email and said I couldn't come. (this was after all the research I put into going and making hotel reservations etc.). After they accepted me for treatment!

I called them and emailed them to speak with them about the matter. However, they did not return my call and sent me an email with arbitrary excuses and said there was no reason for them to speak to me again!

I am still shocked that I was treated in this manner. It was unprofessional and I can't believe trauma therapist would behave in this manner! I guess they figured I was so far away and out of state that it was ok to treat me this way. What they did to me was careless and caused avoidable stress in my life.

I still can't believe, after opening up and sharing my personal story that Freedoms Calling Intensive Trauma Therapy Institute did not have enough respect for me as a human being to call me speak to me. I had so much hope in this treatment, that I almost gave them 8,000 dollars and that's not including airfare, rental car and hotel.

Furthermore, they use God and their faith to make themselves seem safe and caring. There was nothing caring or Godly about how they treated me.

Please be aware, the assessment process alone can be triggering and re-traumatizing.

 

[Deleted member 1860]

Autumncolors,
I am SO sorry this happened to you! The treatment center you speak of is a spin off of the one I went to in Morgantown, WV. And yes, they are quite spiritually based. (I am coming into my own in terms of spirituality, but since one of my traumas was religiously related, I stay away from treatments which are spiritual in nature. This is another reason I chose the Morgantown program over the Georgia one.)

What they did to you was completely and totally unethical. If you are going to be released from treatment, it should be done via a telephone call, not email, voicemail, or even text! I am appalled that you were treated in this manner, especially since this is a trauma program!

The assessment that I went through for the Morgantown program was quite in depth. I remember filling them out for hours and hours. Yes, they can be triggering if you're in a bad place, but at the same time it's necessary for these programs to get as much information about your trauma history so that they can make the best treatment recommendation for you. (And I speak only regarding my assessment for the Morgantown program, as I have no experience in dealing with the program for Georgia.)

Have you considered the Morgantown program?

 

[Autumncolors]

ScaredOfLonely,

Thanks for your response. Yes, I have considered the Morgantown program. I completed there intake and visited them a couple of months ago and planned on going this month, until I discovered they had a male therapist on the treatment team. (nothing is wrong with him!) Unfortunately, I can't work with a male therapist, so I will have to wait until they hire and train another female therapist before I can go. I pray it some time in the near future, because I am ready to receive some treatment that may actually help. I have spent the past 8 years being misled by therapist.

I was ok with the Georgia program being faith based, since I am a Christian.

I think that's why its more upsetting in some ways. Can you believe the director of the Georgia program said she was praying for me, then treated me in this manner!

 

[Deleted member 1860]

Oh, do you mean Dr Tinin? Or is there someone else who is male? (if so, hes new... I worked with kristin, Carrie, Carrie, and another older lady in addition to the two founders of the program...Did one of the carries leave?) I had the exact opposite problem in that I was hesitant about an all female team. But it worked out. What they told me that helped was that I needed to see beyond the people (therapists) and put my faith into the program. I knew they were right as this was my one and only shot at this type of treatment. I don't want to minimize your trauma in any way, But have you discussed this issue with them? It may help. I really hope you get another chance to go. It's one of the things (out of everything I've tried) that's helped me. If there's any other way I can help (questions, etc) just let me know!

 

[Autumncolors]

Thanks for your response again. No, it wasn't Dr. Tinin. It's a new person they just hired. One of the Carries lives out of state now, but still works for ITT and they only have three people available to do the treatment. Yes, I have discussed the issue with them and decided it was best that I wait until they hire a new female therapist. I don't want to take a risk and "freeze" during treatment. It's too much money to push myself, however I have thought about it.

 

[Deleted member 1860]

It is a lot of money, and I agree that you shouldn't commit unless you're certain that the program is right for you. Hopefully things will work out and you'll be able to get into the program at some point in the not so distant future. I hope their program expands, because I believe that it could help a lot of people. It's just unfortunate that insurance won't pay for any of it!

I had one of those "freeze" moments during treatment, and it was an issue that had to be worked around. One of the therapists triggered me, and the team wanted me to work through it. I (and the person paying for my treatment) successfully argued with them that I was paying a LOT of money for their treatment and given the short amount of time I was there, it wasn't in my best interest to focus on client-therapist struggles because I should be focusing on processing my trauma. Fortunately they agreed and the triggering person was removed from my treatment team. If the treatment team was larger, this issue could be worked around a bit easier, but since they're so small, it can be an issue if a person doesn't "click" with the entire team. (Which, is sort of a stretch if you think about it, to have to jump between five different therapists and be OK with all of them?!?)

 

[Autumncolors]

I'm glad to hear that you advocated for yourself with help from the person who paid!
I can't get my hopes up, they don't know when the new hire will happen. I am still coping with the dissappointment that I can no longer go and get the relief I so desperately need. A friend of mine just returned from there last week and had a positive experience.


I'm glad you understood exactly what I meant by "freeze". I know I can't discuss certain things with male therapist, because I froze earlier this year when I was interviewing a male therapist. I could barely speak to him or answer his questions. I could not open up with him in the same manner I could with the women I interviewed. I guess I can't discuss sexual violations with men. It's too embarassing for me.

I do think the program is right for me! I just can't risk the treatment being completly ruined by a "freeze". I do believe the treatment can work. I'm so glad you have confirmed this by sharing your experience there.
Just a thougt: If the treatment worked well, I Imagined getting trained in this treatment and opening a treatment center, but of course I can't do anything until I am treated and healed

I wonder if there are any individuals trained in this treatment that might be able to help me?

 

[Deleted member 1860]

ITT has a list of therapists who have gone through training in their program. I'm not sure if they asked you if a therapist-in-training could sit in on your sessions. They asked me and I declined as the price tag was the same either way, and I didn't want to be a guinea pig for someone new, even though it would have helped more therapists get trained in the long run.

But, I caution you that not all of the therapists who have gone through their training have been trained in all aspects of what ITT does. ITT is constantly adding new things to their treatment, so a therapist who went through their training a couple of years ago will not have been trained in everything that ITT does now. (I hope this makes sense!) For example, I need to work on my IFST (inter family systems therapy), so I called ITT to get a list of therapists who went through their program. I found one nearby (only one!), and by some miracle she accepted my insurance (another bonus!). The first session went well, and I told her that I was looking for help with IFST and the dialoging process. She seemed to indicate that she could help me. A month later I went back, and then she confessed to me that she had received her training from ITT before they added the IFST elements of dialoging. Really, I felt like I was in another world as I made it quite clear during my first session with her what my needs were. After the second session she called ITT to "catch up" on their latest mode of therapy. I then received a call from her saying she could pick up on IFST and work with me. Uhm, no....IFST is NOT something you can pick up by reading a pamphlet or book! You need training in it, and I was not going to be her test subject. And to be honest, I was seeing another therapist at the time who talked with ITT and had seen all of my work, and since she had never done IFST work before, she wanted me to find someone specialized in it. So my point is that you can get a list of affiliated therapists from ITT, but don't count on them being just as good as the program itself.