Trauma Therapy, What To Expect?

[recoveringfromptsd]

typo on last post,

If you have been following this thread should read "if you have seen my post in this thread and my thread urge to cut"

 

[Muted]

@recoveringfromptsd explained it very well, I usually put a lock on the container and even sometimes bury it. I close my eyes and visualize it, all of those emotions going into the container. It's very helpful following an EMDR session. Does that help @amosmorris ?

 

[amosmorris]

@amosmorris I can explain containment, containment is taking something di...

Wow--thank you so much @recoveringfromptsd

 

[amosmorris]

@recoveringfromptsd explained it very well, I usually put a lock on the container an...

Yes--I need to do this. My therapist often talks about "letting the feelings pass...until we can be together again" when we can handle them together/in session, but I like this very visual idea better. Because I haven't been doing great with the breathing piece and I have gotten almost used to my heart flying out of my chest. I like this better--I wonder if maybe I could get my heart to calm down more easily this way. Also I struggle with auditory flashbacks...I am thinking about if I can imagine putting them in a sound-proof container so I can't hear them. Thank you so much. I will try.

 

[recoveringfromptsd]

.I am thinking about if I can imagine putting them in a sound-proof container so I can't hear them

That's it your getting the idea, everybody's method varies. The concepts are the same, what you use is individual, and likely unique to you.
I remember when I was in the hospital the night before Discharge, I still had flashback's the same as I had when I went in, but they would not let me go unless I successfully used these skills the night before.

 

[Freedomfighter]

Yes, she could but I have parts that now don't trust her and are adamantly against it because she is th...

No, that does not sound crazy at all. It is very tough for us because most people do not understand or just don't care how we feel. I myself am amazed at the callousness of people every day. Our therapists understand and to us that is a great gift.

 

[Lori0122]

I looked her up (fantastic website), and she uses emdr. I'm not sure what that is, though :facepalm:....

I'm doing EMDR now for combat trauma and it's been very difficult but completely worth it. After 16 years of getting no where in therapy, I'm finally starteling to feel better. I definitely recommend it but you really need to be ready and find the right therapist to go through it with you. I had tried once before but wasn't ready and couldn't do it fully...I was still way too much in protective mode.

 

[Muted]

It is very tough for us because most people do not underst...

That is so so true.... it doesn't feel like people listen or care in general, sometimes I wonder how things would be different if we could all see what people have survived and are dealing with every day.

 

[Muted]

I'm doing EMDR now for combat trauma and it's been very difficult but completely worth it. After 16 ye...

How did you get passed the protective mode?

 

[Arebas]

But, in general, I think of trauma-therapy vs regular therapy as the difference between just got hit by a car & can't walk, vs got hit by a car 10 years ago and the bones were never set properly, and can't walk.

I'm hijacking this thread a bit, I'm sorry, but I just read this and it felt so spot on on something I've been trying to make sense of myself.
My T, regular T, once told me that I had opened wounds that I didn't know how to deal with so I just looked away (dissociated) so I wouldn't feel them and that our job was to learn to look at them so they can heal. It felt so wrong for me. It made me feel like I was neglecting myself, that I was ignoring my own suffering and basically avoiding doing anything useful. I told her that, to me, it was more like fifteen years ago I was pushed and fell and broke my spine. And, staying on the floor was not an option, so I just stood up and kept walking on. Don't know how I did it but all the bones in my back were fused together the best way they could so now I walk funny and it always hurts and there are some movements everyone does with ease that are simply impossible for me. She said she understood and she never wanted to make me feel neglectful. And that was it. The therapy continued its course.

I'm thinking now I made a huge mistake staying with this T and her desire to heal my wounds and I need to look for real trauma therapy instead. :banghead:

 

[amosmorris]

@Arebas my T has used the broken bone/always a broken bone idea but she also maintains that I need to feel all the shit--even in tiny amounts--and though I push myself I find that I just fall apart with the trust issues immediately after. It's like one step forward and three back. I wrote on another thread about my major block around her non-disclosure stance and I swear it's not only breaking my heart but also sending me into massive panic and dissociative mode. I can't seem to find ways to feel safe sharing my own stuff/esp feeling it when there's no give on her side. I know that can be problematic--but it just is what it is. I finally said to her this week that I'm broken and this is just my deal. We had a major mess of a session this week and she's saying we're going to work this out, that she can be more flexible, but I just am feeling like we are so vulnerable to the choices they make. Such hard stuff. I'm running on fumes with the process right now.

 

[Lola Nocheprieta]

Hang in there, @amosmorris, you are doing such hard work!