Laurie2001
Confident
Hi. I posted a thread a couple of months ago about the possibility of going to Sheppard Pratt Trauma unit. I went and just wanted to let anyone know who is thinking about it that it was excellent! Very difficult experience emotionally but truly transforming. The staff is incredible and available 24/7. The therapy is very good and the skills I gained have already helped significantly. I was having tremendous difficulty with emotional regulation. I didn't realize the degree to which flashbacks and my attempts to stave them off dominated so much of my day. And I had no idea how to manage them.
I finally feel like I have tools to prevent them and to have some control over managing them when they do occur, although I have to work at them every day and it is a process. I also gained a number of almost revelatory realizations about myself including how I see other people, myself, etc. I have worked at hospitals because I am a psychologist and I have never seen a unit like this. It is truly special and there are very few like it and they are ever decreasing.
I will note that most of the people on it (all women until my last day) had Dissociative Identity Disorder. Although I have elements of it I am always aware of my age, etc although I might feel like I'm six, ten, and so on depending on what I am flashing back too. Sometimes this required me to assert how I translate the interventions to complex PTSD. However, everyone was responsive and the staff were extremely helpful and uniformly nice. I also enjoyed my contact with the other women and being at a place where I could let my guard down and be open about all with which I struggle. If you have DID this is the place!
I had tremendous fears about going, but it was completely worth it and totally the right decision.
So if anyone is considering hospitalization I would give this more than a thumbs up. And I was lucky enough to have my insurance cover it.
I finally feel like I have tools to prevent them and to have some control over managing them when they do occur, although I have to work at them every day and it is a process. I also gained a number of almost revelatory realizations about myself including how I see other people, myself, etc. I have worked at hospitals because I am a psychologist and I have never seen a unit like this. It is truly special and there are very few like it and they are ever decreasing.
I will note that most of the people on it (all women until my last day) had Dissociative Identity Disorder. Although I have elements of it I am always aware of my age, etc although I might feel like I'm six, ten, and so on depending on what I am flashing back too. Sometimes this required me to assert how I translate the interventions to complex PTSD. However, everyone was responsive and the staff were extremely helpful and uniformly nice. I also enjoyed my contact with the other women and being at a place where I could let my guard down and be open about all with which I struggle. If you have DID this is the place!
I had tremendous fears about going, but it was completely worth it and totally the right decision.
So if anyone is considering hospitalization I would give this more than a thumbs up. And I was lucky enough to have my insurance cover it.