Reframing And Watching From A Movie Theater?

[Lexa]

Hi. I am still so new to all of this and my T wants to start having me talk about the sexual assault as though I am in the back row of a movie theater. He says I can fast forward and rewind and splice and edit what I see. We will be doing this Monday and I am horrified. Anyone have experience with this type of therapy? Am I allowed to close my eyes? Can I ask him to guide me through it and ask questions? I am so afraid I am just going to ditch the appointment or have a severe panic attack right there in his office. Please give me insight or suggestions if you have them. Thanks, Lexa

 

[gdf]

Hi Lexa,

I have had some similar experiences a long time ago and my T at the time gave me ground rules such as I could tell her to stop at any point. Talking about it with him may help but if you are not ready that may be good for him to know that also. Good luck. I 'll be anxious to hear how it went.

Gina

 

[Lexa]

Thanks GDF I think I will just tell him that I would like him to guide me through a part of it and I might do better with my eyes closed. I can dissassociate at will and maybe in this instance it can help me just to get it out there for the first time. I will give a heads up on how it went though. Thanks for your reply. Lex

 

[gdf]

You're welcome...putting it out there for the first time is really hard, exhausting, dirty work. But, it will start to feel better once it is out there because it lets you heal. For me it was like dumping a 2000 piece jigsaw puzzle out on a floor from a second story window. Talking about it was like trying to find and assemble all the outside edges to create a frame. Now I am filling in the middle. : )

 

[kris]

GDF, I like your analogy of the jigsaw puzzle.