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Old Dec 23, 2011, 04:00 PM
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beautiful.mess beautiful.mess is offline
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Member Since: Sep 2011
Location: Chicago
Posts: 324
Quote:
Originally Posted by skysblue View Post
Thanks for the link. The thing is - my story isn't that horrible. It may come across like that since I'm talking about it all the time. On a scale of 1 to 10 of traumatic experiences, it probably rates a -2.

The 'telling' though takes a lot out of me. Re-experiencing the story IS emotional. It's like I wasn't able to fully 'feel' the emotions while having the experiences initially and now they're coming forth.

And I can handle it. It's not like I become hysterical or out of control. Anybody looking at me would not notice a thing. It's all internal.

But, I still wonder why the necessity of having to 'feel' the story again. Why can't I just tell it and let myself be heard- without all the emotions? Can't just the fact that someone knows my story be therapeutic enough? Can't I tell it as would a witness tell it - not as a participant?

Can anyone explain the reason why it might be beneficial to re-experience the story instead of just a detached re-telling?
I have some stories that seem like this too. Kind of like....irrelevant and not "important enough" to bring up in therapy or have any emotion over anymore. Like, there are SO MANY other more horrible things a person could discuss that would rate a 12 on that 0-10 scale. Who would care about my wallowing about my -2 problem.

But the thing I have to keep telling myself is that if it's making me feel like crap, and it's a hindrance on my life (even if it "only" pops up every couple of months) then the fact that it scores low on the level-of-importance scale matters nill. If I hurt from it, then THAT fact alone is worth something, no?
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What a loss to spend that much time with someone, only to find out that she's a stranger.
- Joel, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Thanks for this!
pbutton, skysblue