I have been in a prolonged exposure treatment program for a few months. It was supposed to last 12 weeks, but due to my lack of progress, we extended it. I still feel horrible most of the time. The therapist has decided that we should switch modalities from PE to more traditional talk therapy.
My concern is that this therapist has always had a zero-empathy, very clinical, almost gruff manner throughout the program. I did not mind this; I figured PE was more about adhering to protocols, doing the homework, etc., rather than "the relationship." In some ways, I feel like it also helped me get more of the gory, humiliating, painful details out. (If you feel like someone likes you, naturally, you are going to try to preserve that and not say anything that would sour them. That is why buddy-buddy therapists can be so annoying and counter-productive, I think.)
Nevertheless, I feel like a normal talk therapist should have some empathy and not be stony-faced and clinical (just not in a "you're perfect, and all your problems are imaginary" way). I don't know if she is going to change once we switch to "regular" therapy. Has anyone gone back and forth from PE to other modalities with a therapist? Any opinions?
My concern is that this therapist has always had a zero-empathy, very clinical, almost gruff manner throughout the program. I did not mind this; I figured PE was more about adhering to protocols, doing the homework, etc., rather than "the relationship." In some ways, I feel like it also helped me get more of the gory, humiliating, painful details out. (If you feel like someone likes you, naturally, you are going to try to preserve that and not say anything that would sour them. That is why buddy-buddy therapists can be so annoying and counter-productive, I think.)
Nevertheless, I feel like a normal talk therapist should have some empathy and not be stony-faced and clinical (just not in a "you're perfect, and all your problems are imaginary" way). I don't know if she is going to change once we switch to "regular" therapy. Has anyone gone back and forth from PE to other modalities with a therapist? Any opinions?
