Your technique(s) may be working to cope with the pain, but are you also working on solving the cause of the pain? I think it takes both. I think treehouse and I have experienced similar, as she wrote. When you work through the pain, a lot of the need to practice either good or bad coping can go away. Because the pain has been reduced, you don't need to cope. You mentioned wanting to be a psychologist--especially then it seems like you would want to get at the root rather than only working on coping mechanisms. Jexa, it sounds like you are trying hard to work on the coping side of things. Does your therapy also include working on solving the pain? Sometimes people have to do the coping techniques part first before doing the deeper work (to make themselves stronger). But you want to be a psychologist. So I see how important it is for you! I am working right now on becoming a PNP. I use that to help motivate myself to do the work in therapy that otherwise I might leave undone. I think I have been to therapy long enough to do "well enough" out in the world. But I need better than that, because I'm going to be helping other people. I owe it to them to deal with all my stuff--down to the root.