Needle phobia, self-harm

[Missycat]

Im glad that you have found a therapist. I opened up to my t about self harming as i knew i needed help and i wanted help. She told me she was glad that i had and that she wouldnt need to report it if i remained honest and open with her and i looked after myself ie kept the wounds clean, didnt cut near any major arteries etc and that i also told my partner too. We worked on numerous strategies to help me and i always was honest with her when she asked me about it. I felt then able to tell my own doc and my partner - i wasnt thrown in a hospital , i felt totally supported and the harming stopped for a long fime. T more recently did a pysch doc referral for me and she advised me she had to tell the pysch doc about the harming .. i was totally okay with that and it helped me as the pysch doc had the full picture.
Who does your t need to report you too?

 

[Buddy]

I start therapy in about a month. Yesterday was my orientation where they told us all the rules and policies. That's when I found out that if I even mentioned I want to self-harm the therapist has to report it. I'm not sure to whom. But I'm afraid that would mean a stay in a mental hospital. Which I can't ever go to again.

 

[Missycat]

@Buddy , it also might not mean a stay in hospital? Effective therapy relies on you being able to build a relationship with your t and being able to trust them, if part of this for you is your self harm then for help i would hope you would be able to open up without fear of ‘reporting’ - can you ask her who she ‘reports it’ to ?
Im sorry that you are in this position. Hopefully being in therapy and working on your problems etc may mean you have no need or urge to harm. I wish you all the best.

 

[scout86]

R

But their policy is that they have to report self-harm.

Report it to who? I guess I'd have a conversation, early on, about what the reporting policy is and if that means they don't want you to talk about it or what. In the beginning, you're going to be learning what this therapist is like, how much you trust them, etc. Discuss the subject in a general way and get a feel for the situation. If you can't talk about something that's actually part of your problem, it seems like therapy's not going to work real well.

The only thing I can think of that's similar is suicide. I've discussed it with my T. I've also discussed "being locked up". He said himself that he "doesn't think I'd do well in captivity". He's not going to get me locked up for discussing the subject. It would be something he'd do as a last resort, to save my life. Self harm ought to be the same kind of thing. (Good luck!)

 

[littleoc]

I'm so glad you found a therapist, and thank you for updating :)

I'm sorry for all you're going through. Obviously you need to build trust with the therapist before you move ahead into treatment. I'm afraid to give advice about that, but I will say that testing the waters is okay. Depending on the hiarchy within the practice you're attending, you should be able to figure things out after a while.

I wish I had better advice, but I'm afraid of my fear of harm leaking out and accidentally giving you advice that might make you TOO guarded. I wish you the best of luck still

 

[Buddy]

Hello all. Just wanted to update. I have decided to stop self-harming. I believe I can do it this time. I know I can. I will still be going to therapy.

 

[littleoc]

That's great!

You can do it!

 

[Buddy]

Good news. I went to my first session with my therapist today. He did say he wouldn't report me if I mentioned that I self-harm. I was so relieved to hear that. So I ended up telling him about it. Thanks all for reading. :)

 

[littleoc]

Good news. I went to my first session with my therapist today. He did say he wouldn't report me if I ment...

So glad to hear that!!

Have a smooth-as-possible recovery!