Setting An Expected Time For Therapy

[anthony]

You can take that negatively, or you can take that from a therapist viewpoint, being they need to establish goals. Therapy without a goal to end is actually just as dangerous as therapy with a goal that is too short.

There is purpose in your therapists question, because you contract yourself to a time frame in which you are saying, "I am going to improve by x enough that I can walk the path myself without a therapist holding my hand."

That is the idea of an end date. It is unethical to continue longevity of therapy...

Saying that, if the therapist is not astute with complex trauma, then they may not be aware that it may take years of therapy to accomplish societal normalcy... compared to most therapy which is defined on short periods of time. Trauma therapy is vastly complex within itself, hence why most just don't understand it.

 

[maddog]

I have been doing a lot of reading lately and found a bit of information on recovery time. Basically the author said that complex trauma generally takes two to three years to recover from but that it can take up to twenty years. A lot depends on the person, their personality, the nature of the complex traumas and life circumstances.

Mir, if you don't mind my asking, would you be able to point me towards some of what you have been reading on the topic of recovery? Would be very interested to do some reading on the area myself. Any pointers appreciated.

MD

 

[MyStarryNight]

Hey Maddog :) The book I was speaking of earlier was "Healing From Trauma: A Survivor's Guide" by Jasmin Lee Cori. It's on the recommend book page of this site and it's very good. Some of it though you might consider pretty elementary if you've been in therapy for a long time.

However, it does a great job of explaining how trauma and especially complex trauma can effect a person long term psychologically and physically. It also talks about why it's so important to do the hard work of recovery and how to approach the process.

I like the book a great deal. I think what makes the book unique is it's a book about trauma written by a person who has been through her own trauma, recovered from it, and is living and working as a therapist. I think because of this she has both a very good perspecitve and a very good undertsanding of trauma and how ardous recovery can be and feel at times.

I also have been reading the "Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Sourcebook" by Glenn R. Schiraldi. This doesn't talk as much about recovery but it does have very detailed descriptions of some of the therapies mentioned in the first book.

 

[maddog]

Many thanks Mir, I will definitely prioritise these up my "to-read" list and try to check them out soon.

Sadly, I just don't seem to have been able to focus and commit myself to doing a lot of the reading i want to do on this stuff. I'm normally an avid and hungry reader and self-educator, but have struggled for so long now to commit to and follow through with anything that it's become very difficult. But I'd like to start to try to turn that around, because I know myself well enough to know that I do take empowerment from knowledge, and I'd like to put that into some practice.

Thanks again.

Maddog