What To Do After Exposure Therapy

[BlankCanvas]

Hi Celli,

To begin with, welcome to the forum :) I came across this forum a few months ago and it's been an amazing resource for me in my recovery. There's a lot of good information to be found here. Also, a lot of really supportive people.

In terms of exposure therapy, I have been working at it on/off since September. I think there are a lot of other people on here who also have experience with this kind of therapy. It can be really intimidating, I tried to avoid it for a while. I've been doing exposure sessions gradually. At the same time, I've been learning a lot of great coping tools to help me along the way. I have to say, it's not my favourite thing to do, but I have definitely seen progress. It comes in bursts. There are setbacks and there are milestones. It's really important that you trust your therapist, so it sounds like you're off to a good start! My biggest suggestion is that you ask a lot of questions. Write them down during the week and bring them to your appointments. I've made a lot of progress this way in terms of asking how to deal with certain emotions/thoughts/etc that came up after exposure sessions.

And I can totally relate with your whole 'alarm bells' comment. Triggers can be a real nuissance and have made me doubt myself on many occassions. Take is slow, be kind to yourself, and let the healing begin :D

Take care,

BC

 

[kers]

I've done exposure therapy,both a flooding type and desensitization. I have found both to be tremendously helpful. The biggest thing I had to learn was to be very, very, very patient with myself, as it was not an instant feel-better cure. It was painful and slow (still is, as I continue it), but definitely a worthwhile approach to managing my reactions and memories.

Good luck! If you have found someone you trust to walk with you on this journey, that is the biggest factor.

 

[BlankCanvas]

I asked my psychologist about this exposure thing today. Specifically about how much time I should give myself to think about things after the exposure is over. I was trying to distinguish the line between healthy thinking patterns and dwelling. This is the answer I got:

If you are thinking about things in terms of new insights, deconstructing the trauma, making new connections, etc then this is generally a good thing. If you find that you are repeating the same cycle of thoughts over and over again, not going anywhere with them, this is considered dwelling. I'm going to use this as my little guide to monitor my thoughts/feelings/behaviour after exposure sessions. :) I don't want to dwell on things and drag myself through the mud. At the same time, I want to make sure that I'm open to new thoughts/feelings that might help me progress through all of this madness!