Preparation For Trauma Therapy

[intothelight]

Reading some posts tonight, and for the past 9 months, most of my therapy has focused on getting me prepared for trauma therapy. It has seemed agonizingly slow, but it makes a lot of sense. My T believes that trauma therapy is extremely difficult and one needs the right tools to "handle" the therapy so that it does not re-traumatize.

It has focused on life-style changes, stress reduction techniques, coping skills, building of self-esteem, etc.

I know of a few others here that have had this same approach. Does it help?

 

[Ted Moen]

It helped me a lot. I did trauma therapy as an inpatient at the National Center for PTSD (Menlo Park, CA). It is very intense because it is when you go where have avoided, then further. Your T sounds good, you will need a lot of gentle support during the process. Mine took me to a promise I had made a soldier as he was dying that I had buried. After the therapy I looked up the soldier's mom and told her what a wonderful job her son did. It was a very important step in the healing process for me.

Ted

 

[KP the nut]

Slow and steady is the way to go. My T takes so long to prepare me. I just want to rush at it and he reins me in and explains why we do it his way.

Eg yesterday I was prepared for EMDR before rushing to for dental surgery 15 minures after session finishes. T was like, Wow, slow down, the last thing you need is a tough EMDR session, we will just talk things through and not deal with the trauma. He went so far as to say it would be unethical for him to do a session during such a stressful day.

A good T seems to know when to push and when to back off.

(((HUGS)))

 

[anthony]

Mine was a requirement that you had to do it all yourself, not in therapy... basically I was given a checklist, I then had to show that I could get x, y & z under control in the prior months in order to get into the program... if one had not met these criteria to demonstrate the self will to heal PTSD, then they simply rejected you and took the one's who did demonstrate x, y & z. Specialist PTSD course with a success rate of serious improvement around 95%. Of all the models I have looked at, I was very lucky to be within that one... even though I thought it was harsh to prepare oneself... but it helps a whole lot with PTSD.

I couldn't stress enough the importance to have a safe home environment, some support mechanism and stability, ie. haven't just broken up with a partner, etc... nothing that is going to put more stress on the process before it begins. Trauma therapy is intense IF done right, and its meant to be that way...

 

[intothelight]

I couldn't stress enough the importance to have a safe home environment, some support mechanism and stability, ie. haven't just broken up with a partner, etc... nothing that is going to put more stress on the process before it begins. Trauma therapy is intense IF done right, and its meant to be that way...

Anthony,

That is 100% correct, being safe, supported, and in a stable environment, are the prerequisites for successful trauma therapy. At the present time those are my main goals, and I hope that anyone else reading this takes this to heart. Not to have this will guarantee the therapy will cause more harm than good.

Deb

 

[Deleted member 5760]

I really believe this. I think having anything going on which causes further grief or 'stress' really will get in the way of sorting core issues. It's hard enough to chip away at them as it is.

You need a safe place to launch from, and a safe place to fall.

 

[cherryblossom]

I couldn't stress enough the importance to have a safe home environment, some support mechanism and stability, ie. haven't just broken up with a partner, etc... nothing that is going to put more stress on the process before it begins. Trauma therapy is intense IF done right, and its meant to be that way...

Yep - I just want to reiterate that. It is sooooo important. I have been doing trauma therapy, with extra stresses added due to problems at work. I don't think either the work issues, or the trauma therapy issues, would have been enough to push me over the edge - but combined, it was more than I could handle. Sometimes external stressors are beyond our control, but it is important to limit these as much as possible before embarking on trauma therapy.

 

[Srain]

I'm in the beginnings of it myself. The 'Letting Go' part of the process is the most difficult for me. My home life is stable and I am with Anthony about having a support system. For me it's important that I've also gotten a "plan" together with my closet support member (tdoc, loved one, friend, whoever) an emergency list in case I mentally shut down or act out. This is strictly for my peace of mind. I set it up with the hospital that I'm most comfortable with and my Hunny, I have a few people that know that's where I go 'in case' and gave them the code word. I wear a medic alert bracelet with my Dx and my Hunny's ph # on it.

Do I go over-board? Say what you will but the police in my area take no prisoners so I am very very careful with my plan and I believe in being proactive and I advocate for myself. My flashbacks can knock me off my feet and leaving me in a completely different world.

What I have found so far is amazing insight and doors with handles!!

I guess we will be walking this together :)

 

[Deleted member 5760]

I think honestly, it's very hard if you are the compassionate type, to put yourself first. That doesn't mean you're being greedy or uncaring. It simply means you can't take on too many of other people's problems because you have enough of your own. If you've suffered very severe trauma, I believe, at a point you have to put your hand up and put yourself first in line.

In all honesty, a lot of people I know who have PTSD have a tendency towards being a GOOD PERSON. If 'not so good things' didn't bother you, you'd never have gotten ptsd. It's hard to draw that line sometimes.

And that is truly my dilemna - at what point did my 'being a good person' cross over into PTSD. A lot of it is about learning assertiveness I think. That doesn't mean you have to let go of yourself to the point where you just don't care about the feelings of others (I think for me that's an impossibility). But.... I do have to put my own health first at times. I'd like to remain the compassionate and good person I believe I am, but still learn a way to not have that abused. Stability around me will help with that. And I do have to stand up and demand it (even if that is an uncomfortable and new position for me to be in).

 

[Tinyflame]

Would anyone happen to have suggestions of how to proceed if one cannot get all those conditions? I cannot entirely get a safe home base- it's unpredictable, and I have interior stability (in terms of no 'depressing' events - thankfully and touch wood, except for 'my own thoughts' etc) but not necessarily exterior stability, though I try to practise detachment. (Lots of stress though). Am I doomed to be unable to progress, or just need new and inventive ways? It's not always bad, and sometimes too I feel more desirous to really want to work on it (me), despite knowing the bad-has-to-come-with-the-good. I also cannot alter my environment specifically at this time, and am required to provide 24-hour care plus work full time (outside my home).
I really appreciate if anyone has any suggestions- I have pretty constricted thinking, I fear.

 

[allitherapy]

In a perfect world, we would all have a stable environment and an excellent support system. In a perfect world, so many of us wouldn't have PTSD! That being said, I think it certainly helps to have all of the aforementioned things, but I don't think it's a requirement for trauma therapy to be successful. I think the single most important thing is for you to start believing that YOU have the power to change, to heal. Even if you don't believe it, start telling yourself that. The more you do so, you'll notice your positive affirmations replacing the negative ones. If you do not have a stable home environment or a strong support system, this does NOT mean you can't move forward! It just means it may be a little more difficult. Are you ready to do this really hard work to heal? I live alone, was abused by my family, and have no support system outside of my therapist because I choose not to tell any of my friends the details of "my stuff". I have experienced great healing despite this. You need to make sure you have the coping mechanisms to get yourself through the hard times. You need to be able to trust yourself and rely on yourself for help. For me, this is much more healing than knowing I have someone else to depend on to make it better. It's all on me. I have the power and I love that. I do have a wonderful therapist I know I can call on when I do need outside help. I think you need to assess your coping skills, your willingness to do the work, and your support from your therapist. I don't think that you necessarily need to be living in a minimal stress eutopia for trauma therapy to be effective, you just need to feel confident in your abilities to manage issues that may come up. Some people aren't ready to do this and do require everything to be as calm as possible for their therapy to work. Find out what will work best for you, but please dont think that it can't be done.

 

[Iam]

I don't think that you necessarily need to be living in a minimal stress eutopia for trauma therapy to be effective, you just need to feel confident in your abilities to manage issues that may come up. Some people aren't ready to do this and do require everything to be as calm as possible for their therapy to work. Find out what will work best for you, but please dont think that it can't be done.

I agree alli that a person has to be willing to do the hard work in order to heal. That is the first prerequisite. Of course nobody can prevent all stressors, unless you are checked into a facility that completely isolates you. That being said, minimal stress vs a "safe" environment are two totally different things. I am extremely motivated to get as well as I possibly can and yet there have been things that have happened that set me back. I've been in therapy for 18 months with my primary T. He is not a trauma therapist and it took some time before he suggested that I had PTSD. Eventually he felt I needed to try EMDR so last October I found a trauma therapist. I had only seen her a few times when something happened at home and I landed in the hospital. She told both myself and my primary T that I had to have a safe, stable home environment before we could proceed with working on the actual traumas themselves. We have spent a lot of time creating a safe place for me to go to mentally, coping skills and creating the stable environment at home and have only just started on the traumas the last few weeks.

I've written all this to share from experience that having a stable environment is essential IMHO. We will all have normal life stressors, but an abnormally unstable environment at home while doing intense trauma therapy is a huge liability. I think that is why so many articles and therapists stress the importance of it.