Tir Therapy Experiences?

[TT1981]

I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with TIR (Traumatic Incident Reduction) Therapy? It was mentioned to me by my last therapist, but she was just being trained in it and I had no desire to be her guinea pig. I actually quit therapy all together because she made me feel bad for not wanting to try this particular therapy and claimed there was nothing else besides this that would help me.

 

[sun seeker]

she made me feel bad for not wanting to try this particular therapy and claimed there was nothing else besides this that would help me

That does sound like someone wanting a guinea pig. I'm sorry that happened to you. A good therapist may recommend different approaches, but won't claim there is only one thing that can help you, I don't think. There are a gazillion things to try, it's just a matter of finding the best fit for you, and the best therapists are always learning and expanding their repertoire so they have more to offer.

To answer your question, sorry, no. I hope someone else will have experience to share.

 

[Kailani]

Sorry I have no experience with that therapy but it sounds interesting. How does your former therapist know that's the only thing that will work for you?! You shouldn't be forced to do any kind of therapy you aren't comfortable with. Sounds like you needed more knowledge before jumping in to that which seems wise to me. If we jumped into everything we'd end up with more PTSD! Hope you find more info and if you decide you don't like it I'm sure there are more treatments to try like exposure therapy, CBT, EMDR, and also alternative additional treatments like trauma therapy, photography, art therapy, equine therapy, writing,.... Hopefully everyone finds the right treatments!!!

 

[Suzetig]

It's not fair to say there's nothing else that will help you. As @Kailani says there are many different types of treatment some of which work better for some people/types of trains than others. As I understand it TIR is a form of exposure therapy - I've not done it before but have heard it can be very effective. If you don't want to be your therapists test patient, you don't need to be but don't give up on therapy as there will be something out there that's just right for you.

 

[TT1981]

In the past I've done talk therapy, CBT, DBT, art therapy, music therapy and began some exposure therapy (but clearly wasn't ready at the time). I should point out too that the therapist I was seeing barely even knew me. I'm from a very small community so mental health resources are limited and as such, I go through a medical clinic to see a therapist. I had an amazing therapist for 6 years, but then he left the clinic and I was passed over to this new therapist. She took my files, read them, then jumped right into wanting to do TIR without having any sort of rapport with me. Then she got mad at me for not wanting to do it and accused me of not wanting to get better. I'm not sure if at the time I was against trying TIR or if I was just against talking to her in general let alone about my deepest traumas. Lately, I'm starting to feel that I need to venture back into therapy but my experience with her has left me afraid to do so.

 

[Sandstone]

I looked up the TIR webpage, and it made me distinctly uncomfortable, There doesn't seem to be any skill building and stabilisation beforehand, just the belief that the client will be able to control it to ensure they don't go too fast. That may work if you are very self aware, but my experience is that it can be hard to know what is too much until the kick back after the event. I think you were right to be cautious.

 

[TT1981]

@Sandstone, my other concern with this therapy was that it focuses on one traumatic event at a time. I know for myself that I have years and years of trauma to work through and all of it is interconnected. It would be difficult for me to pinpoint a specific traumatic moment. It's my understanding that this therapy asks you to basically relive one very specific moment over and over again, in great detail, verbally, while a therapist just listens. It would take me decades to go through each traumatic event like this, and I think it would be potentially dangerous, as every time I left therapy, my mind would be stuck on the trauma, basically creating a flashback experience that otherwise may not have existed in the first place.

 

[Sandstone]

Do you want to go down the route of some sort of exposure therapy? I think that is still my goal, but being ready and having enough stability to be able to do it seems hard

 

[TT1981]

Yes, I think I'd like to try exposure therapy, but you are right about having the stability to do so. I often wonder if I'm trying to heal too quickly and in return, I'm actually regressing.