Therapy has been "successful" according to my therapist, and I am very happy with the therapy I have had, but once every second week isn't all that much, in some sense. I sort of need 24/7 therapy, it feels like at times, and I am not very functional between the sessions, though I am getting better.
My therapist has said I can talk about whatever I want, and so I have not really talked about what happened to me much. He doesn't know details. I have mostly talked about how I am doing. He is very smart, and sees instantly where I have what he calls "inefficient coping mechanisms" and explains them very well to me and it helps as general advices, and I see that they are general for my life, too, even if they are more prevalent because of the PTSD. He also points out when he sees changes in how I cope, for example when I started talking about the trauma as traumatic instead of laughing while talking about it... ("For the first time today, you had what I would call a more connected reaction to something extreme happening, instead of laughing while talking about it, you looked sad, so don't apologize for the tears, please, it makes more sense and is more how we are supposed to be when we are healthy than the laughter. ")
I like the therapy a lot, to be honest, and that is a bit of a surprise, given that I'm not the kind of person to like therapy normally, since I don't like to talk about things that make me feel weak. But since I can talk about "whatever" it helps a lot for me.
I do sometimes wonder if I "should" know more about PTSD or not, or if it is better to be oblivious and just heal? I don't know too much. I was diagnosed only after 4-5 months of therapy (but I already knew my diagnosis, of course). It felt nice that the therapist took his time to conclude, as it feels more real. His diagnosis was "PTSD. No loss of reality, but with severe dissosiative coping mechanisms". I don't totally know what this means, but it seems to be linked to the example above about how I don't have "normal" emotional reactions to trauma? (he says my emotional reactions are normal for traumatised people, but that they aren't "normal" reactions to trauma in the sense that I'm not showing appropriate emotions (I laugh at pain and smile while talking about extreme experiences, apparently). I hope that made sense, my English is bad today, I think.
So, I guess I like the general approach and the focus on "today" instead of "what happened". I also like that he is "general" instead of "trauma specific". And I like that he pulls information out of the things I say without there being a specific topic or plan to the therapy. What about you, how is therapy for you and what works and what doesn't work?
My therapist has said I can talk about whatever I want, and so I have not really talked about what happened to me much. He doesn't know details. I have mostly talked about how I am doing. He is very smart, and sees instantly where I have what he calls "inefficient coping mechanisms" and explains them very well to me and it helps as general advices, and I see that they are general for my life, too, even if they are more prevalent because of the PTSD. He also points out when he sees changes in how I cope, for example when I started talking about the trauma as traumatic instead of laughing while talking about it... ("For the first time today, you had what I would call a more connected reaction to something extreme happening, instead of laughing while talking about it, you looked sad, so don't apologize for the tears, please, it makes more sense and is more how we are supposed to be when we are healthy than the laughter. ")
I like the therapy a lot, to be honest, and that is a bit of a surprise, given that I'm not the kind of person to like therapy normally, since I don't like to talk about things that make me feel weak. But since I can talk about "whatever" it helps a lot for me.
I do sometimes wonder if I "should" know more about PTSD or not, or if it is better to be oblivious and just heal? I don't know too much. I was diagnosed only after 4-5 months of therapy (but I already knew my diagnosis, of course). It felt nice that the therapist took his time to conclude, as it feels more real. His diagnosis was "PTSD. No loss of reality, but with severe dissosiative coping mechanisms". I don't totally know what this means, but it seems to be linked to the example above about how I don't have "normal" emotional reactions to trauma? (he says my emotional reactions are normal for traumatised people, but that they aren't "normal" reactions to trauma in the sense that I'm not showing appropriate emotions (I laugh at pain and smile while talking about extreme experiences, apparently). I hope that made sense, my English is bad today, I think.
So, I guess I like the general approach and the focus on "today" instead of "what happened". I also like that he is "general" instead of "trauma specific". And I like that he pulls information out of the things I say without there being a specific topic or plan to the therapy. What about you, how is therapy for you and what works and what doesn't work?
