Terrified At The Thought Of Ending Therapy

[Angela Corgan]

I suspect the NHS have a duty of care. If a young person is in NHS psychotherapy for two years and isn't ready to leave or relapses they can come back. So this may apply to older people

I have been in psychotherapy on the NHS and my two years will be up end of March.

Like you I am terrified, but just have almost accepted I am leaving. No one really explained that my Psychotherapists three months holidays a year would not be made up or I missed it.

My fear is that I have no one to talk to who understands, and when very, very stressed I go into very deep shock and 'lose time.' Recently I wandered into to the middle of a main road and got screamed at by a frightened driver. Surely if there is still unfinished work and no real supportive network, they cannot just throw us out. You get a crisis plan for holidays, what happens when we leave. I will investigate.

 

[Sweet_E]

Hiya not been on for a while so apologies- have been dealing with a lot of stuff
Saw my T on Monday a...

There's nothing wrong with going to the Psychiatrist to discuss meds. Just think of it as getting information on your options and go from there. My T also recommended meds at some point. For me, I discussed meds with the Psychiatrist and then had a consultation with the natural pharmacist, then discussed the pros and cons with my husband. I decided against taking the medication.

Also, hopefully in therapy you learned some good tools that you can use as you go on. I have found that I have done so much healing on my own by using my own intuition. But it was really helpful to learn some techniques for dissociation and flashback management. Some of the things I learned, I figured out on my own. Some of things I learned from the therapist I don't know if I would have thought of on my own.

I also found it helpful to consult a variety of resources and experiment with what felt right. I tried a movement therapist, a life coach, neurofeedback, EMDR, and CBT. A lot of the stuff did not work for me and at times I felt like I could experience therapy burnout.

I do believe you can get better. Just because one type of therapy only took you so far, doesn't mean that's as far as you will get. The universe is much bigger than your therapist's office.

 

[Alibongo]

I suspect the NHS have a duty of care. If a young person is in NHS psychotherapy for two years an...

I think you are right Angela and hopefully when I see her next week I can ask more questions and have the nerve to tell her my concerns. It completely came out of the blue. I just feel that we have started but not finished things- for example she asked me to write down my thoughts a few months ago to try and do a bit of cbt but when I went back she never asked about it. Also did the ladder of avoidance to do more exposure work-filled it all out but never did anything with it. I get the impression that she's been told our time is up-been hoping for around 8 moths now. I've never done a crisis plan or anything so don't really know how to cope when I feel suicidal although I did only tell her about it a few weeks ago. I'll have a chat with her and see what she says -I'll let you know!
Thank you also @Sweet_E I think tbh I'm going to have to try the meds but the sheer thought of seeing a psychiatrist is terrifying!

 

[Sherry]

Hi @Alibongo. I just wanted to say that I totally understand the way you feel about your therapy coming to an end.

I had been going through a long and exhausting period of therapy over the past 15 months up until last month. I went through CBT therapy followed by several blocks of Exposure Therapy last year. And this year we tried EMDR therapy. All of these therapies have helped to some extent. But after my latest sessions of EMDR therapy finished early last month, I was told that we would now take a break, let thing settle down a bit, and then review where we are at after a few months.

I now feel as though I have been cut adrift and left to fend for myself. Bobbing around aimlessly in a big scary expanse of ocean, and nowhere to turn for advice. I dont feel equipped or ready to deal with all this on my own. I dont have any support other than my clinical psych, so I am finding this 'wait and see' period extremely difficult.

For you it sounds as though you have not yet had enough sessions to know whether therapy will work for you or not. I hope you are able to arrange to have addition therapy.

Good luck. :)

 

[Sweet_E]

I think you are right Angela and hopefully when I see her next week I can ask more questions and have...

I hope you find a good psychiatrist. Mine is super nice and caring. I still go to him to check in every now and then, if though I'm not on meds. He had been helping me with my leave of absence from work.

 

[Alibongo]

@Sherry It really is awful-I know they can't be their forever but to go from regular contact to absolutely nothing is such a big shock. At least you have this group but it's not the same. Is there a local support group u could access?
@Sweet_E me too! Unfortunately I don't get a choice but hopefully they are good. Aw that's good-ur didn't realise they would follow you up like that.
Thanks guys

 

[Sherry]

@Sherry It really is awful-I know they can't be their forever but to go from regula...

@Alibongo - no I live in a rural location outside of a very small town. There really is no support groups of that type around here. But you're right, it was a big shock, to suddenly lose that weekly support. Yes these Forums do help, but like you said, its not quite the same.

I am on medication which I do find helpful, and I hope that you will too, should you decide to go down that path. Best of luck, and thanks for your reply to me also. xx

 

[Alibongo]

@Alibongo - no I live in a rural location outside of a very small town. There really...

Thank you x

 

[Sweet_E]

Another thing you might want to consider is that it could be hormonal. You may want to research adrenal fatigue. There is actually a post about it on here. Basically, our hormone production gets messed up from constantly producing stress hormones. A classic symptom would be a "tired and wired" feeling, where you are tired throughout the day and then when it's time to sleep, you feel wired and awake. It takes time to heal and requires reduction of stress, reduction or elimination of coffee and alcohol, avoidance of overexertion or strenuous exercise and getting as much rest as you need. My symptoms improved after I started doing yoga and mediation on a regular basis and changed my thinking patterns. I still drink a little coffee in the morning. I used to only be able to sleep a few hours at a time. Now I can sleep a full 6 hours!!!

 

[Alibongo]

Another thing you might want to consider is that it could be hormonal. You may want to research adrenal...

Oh thank you @Sweet_E I'll have a look at it but that actually describes it perfectly! My T is trying to stop me from being in the gym so much - maybe this is why, although I do use the gym as a way to block everything out too. I'm really not a fan of meditation although I do know it helps-I just hate sitting doing nothing.
That's great news you have found a way to get some decent sleep! It really does make a huge difference! :)

 

[Sweet_E]

Oh thank you @Sweet_E I'll have a look at it but that actually describes it perfec...

I like to clean the house to block things out. :) Plus there's instant gratification.

If you don't like meditation you could try something with meditative effects, which is pretty much anything that makes you feel "engrossed" in what you are doing without being too strenuous. Just try to be fully present in the activity rather than zoning out. Pay attention to how your body feels, the sights, sounds, smells, etc. It's a form of mindfulness. Before practicing mindfulness, you may want to make sure you have plenty of centering or grounding techniques under your belt, just in case something unpleasant comes up.

 

[Alibongo]

I like to clean the house to block things out. :) Plus there's instant gratification.

If you don't li...

I really like colouring in it seems to help a lot! ( I really am a 5 year old child at heart :p) I really need to get the housework bug I hate it lol but thanks again for the advice. I have a session tomorrow so will have a chat and see what's going to happen next x