Is Anyone Else Going Though Therapy And Is It This Hard And Will It Get Better?

[Lou82]

Started therapy for my PTSD with Agoraphobia that I have suffered from for several years, and have got worse! I have been told it will get better, has anyone experienced this and does it get better and easier? I knew it would be tough but not this tough! Really could do with anyone experiencing this and have come out the other side.

 

[Deleted member 12723]

Keep on working on your healing and recovery and remember it gets worse before it gets better and you will get better and have more and more good days eventually.

You get out of the process what efforts you put into it.

For me there was so many multiple traumas it took me so many years.

 

[Suzetig]

It is hard - if it was easy to heal we wouldn't need help. Hang in there though because painful healing is still enter than being stuck and in pain.

 

[Tinyflame]

Yes it will. :hug:

 

[Lucycat]

Yes, many of us are (still) going through therapy - and yes it does get better. Certainly for me the first few weeks/months were the hardest,

 

[Changing4Best]

I've been in therapy and on meds for over ten years. I have steadily gotten better after the first bit of tough times. Just grit your teeth and take it as best you can, while you start to improve before you know it. I still don't feel like going out sometimes, but I do so when I can get a ride and friends to go with. Somehow it is easier when I am not alone.

I guess that reminds me of my childhood family, for we always went out together. That reminds me of the good times. (My grandfather who did not live with us was the abuser and he was discovered when I was six, so I was safe after that. He never went anywhere with us before he was discovered. We disowned him once he was discovered).

 

[Leah123]

Since some of they symptoms of PTSD are avoidance, persistent negative cognition, and re-experiencing, yes, it makes perfect sense that going through the process of opening up about the trauma would feel terrible. Switching from avoiding to examining has been very difficult and painful for me, but I've been in therapy this round (after a 20 year break) for about 17 months and have found that it's gotten much easier and the intensity level has definitely dropped overall as I've worked through my main trauma. I don't think any of the work is easy, but it does get easier and more rewarding with time.

 

[Suzetig]

This week saw a bit of a shift in my feelings about therapy - I made myself vulnerable what seems like a fairly minor way but which was big thing for me and my therapist responded with her usual care and concern for me. In our discussion we took time to look at how I've progressed over the past 6 months and it was good for me to get a sense of how she sees me.

In thinking about that session and what's gone before I'm realising its not my job to keep me safe in therapy, it's my therapist's, and I can trust her to do that. This one thought is making me feel less anxious about what comes next - actually I'm realising that I can't give myself what I need to heal and that's ok, it's no failure on my part. I know my therapist can help me and I want to work with her. This feels like a huge (if obvious) realisation for me and I thought I'd share in case it was useful for anyone.

 

[BloomInWinter]

Well done, @Suzetig !