Hi Lex...

This hits close to home for me. I've been in three different partial programs since I was first hospitalized. It is amazing how different they can be. The one I was in last year sounds very similar to the one you are in now. Time spent each day in music therapy or art therapy and one day we just played a board game. I don't know if there was a rule against crying because it never came up... I think the group sessions were so large and impersonal that no one ever opened up enough to even get near crying. Groups structured way to rigidly. The only thing good about it was that it got me out of the house every day.

But the one I just came out of was incredibly different. Much better therapy. A lot more time with the doctor and personal T. Lots of one hour groups each day, but timing was flexible, groups on cognative therapy, problem solving, life skills, at least one hour with no format each day, and some health education each day. It didn't hurt that the group leaders were all very knowledgable and very good with us. The schedule was different every day so that if you came on a different schedule you still got a good mix of everything they had to offer. The groups felt very close-knit even though people came and went (new members joined, some graduated) each day. And most notible, which seems to be the worst thing lacking in the program you are now, is understanding that the whole point of the group is to help each other as a means to self healing. Not that they encouraged people to trigger others of course but an important part of sessions was helping others when they were triggered and thereby learning to cope in triggering situations with the help of the group and the therapist.

I don't want to say "yes you should leave your partial" but I do think you are right to be thinking about it, exploring other possibilities with Vic, or finding another alternative.

Maybe you can check with your insurance or something and see if there is another program in your area that you could try. I hope you can find something more suitable and more successful for you. Good luck.