Trauma Therapy

[Rumors]

I started by writing it down and letting him read through. It opens the dialogue and makes it easier to discuss. I could never say it aloud! Whew! Good luck. I know it is tough!

 

[joeylittle]

I told my therapist that it would help if he asked questions; it was easier for me to answer and give him information. If left to my own devices, I'd freeze up with that "don't talk" command in my head also.

Once you start sharing the information, it can start to get a little easier.

 

[PollyScotland]

Could you write down your thoughts, or keywords to be read by your therapist? Or perhaps send them an email of the things you'd like to discuss but find difficult to introduce.

I take a list of a few things I want to discuss to each session. As my appointments are about 4 weeks apart its usually a recap of my time since seeing him last: the good things, the bad things, update on SI status, other worries. I try not to write down too many topics now as otherwise we can't go through them properly and end the session "safely", and I end up distressed for days afterwards.

A major trauma I needed to discussed was written down before hand in great details, so I could get the wording correct. Then, when I had the courage, I read it all to him. It was difficult but because I was reading it out, rather than just remembering and talking, I could detach from my emotions and he was able to hear my full story coherently.

 

[KwanYingirl]

@PollyScotland I have been trying to tell my childhood trauma story and I just can't get it out either in writing or talking. It's got it's tentacles wrapped around my throat and I'm powerless. Did you have this problem before you were able to write it? And when you did write it, did your emotions overwhelm you?

 

[PollyScotland]

Hello KwanYingirl, I didn't have a problem writing it down really, as I wrote it in the third person. I.e Polly went there and then that happened.

I had been seeing my T for a year before I wrote and read it to him, partly because it was a repressed memory that emerged late in the year. I was very nervous and shook all the time I read it to him, but it was because I was telling him rather than fear of the content.
He felt that my emotions were and still are very restrained in this regard, and the fact that I wrote it in the third person helped me to distance myself from the trauma. I referred to the victim, a child, as a separate person who I no longer identified with. Part of my work in this area was to rewrite the piece using me, I, and to observe how this effected me. We've done a lot of talking but he is not convinced I have dealt with it. So we are moving from CBT to EMDR shortly to try a different method to help me cope with life.

I struggle with anxiety, low self esteem, SI, poor body image and constant worrying. While I don't link the childhood trauma to my current problems and believe I am not traumatised by it, my T feels I need to tackle that to get past it and move on with other areas of my life.

It took me many days to write down and perfect my story. I did it on a computer which helped me add in missed thoughts in chronological order before printing it off.