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Old Apr 23, 2007, 12:04 PM
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sunrise sunrise is offline
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Member Since: Jan 2007
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Am I a person or a diagnosis?

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You are a person!!! ((((hugs))))

You seem to have a good idea of the root causes of your depression--stuck in trauma from your parents' deaths. I think dealing with the root causes with a fantastic therapist could help you move forward beyond depression. I have recently beaten depression without meds. It is wonderful to not be depressed anymore.

Have you tried EMDR? This is a therapy particularly effective with trauma and getting unstuck. It is relatively quick and really helps a lot of people. My current therapist is an EMDR practitioner, and I have really found this therapy effective at helping me process past trauma, some from decades ago. After my first EMDR session, I was literally bouncing off the walls I felt so good. Wow, what a high.

Have you tried visiting a therapist who talks about "healing" a lot when describing his approach? Some psychotherapists have a strong view of themselves as healers rather than psychologists or medical professionals who make diagnoses and fix pathologies. My therapist is a healer and told me that the first session. It was really different from my first counselor's self view. I don't believe she ever mentioned the word "heal" and just kept trying to deal with depression symptoms rather than root causes. My daughter's counselor is also a healer. We are both finding this approach beneficial and, well, "healing."

A book I found insightful about trauma:
Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma

A great book about EMDR, very accessible to the client:
Emotional Healing at Warp Speed: the Power of EMDR

Good luck, justatoaster. It is a testament to your desire to heal that you are still working on this.
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