hey there. once a month isn't really often enough for therapy :-( once every week would be much better. sounds like she doesn't have an individual therapist, instead a psychiatrist is kind of seeing her for meds review and the like and maybe doing some therapy because she doesn't have a therapist. but i'd agree that it is far from optimal.

> I think part of it, too, is her lack of motivation to try to see someone more frequently and distrust in seeing anyone else.

yeah. i really can relate to that too. would she be able to bring this up with her psychiatrist? it might be the case that he could fit her in more often. or it might be the case... that he can reccomend someone for her to see who she is likely to mesh with. it really is scary to see someone. but that being said... having a therapist she meshes with who can see her weekly is likely to help things considerably.

> She doesn't like the idea of talking about all her private issues in a group setting and doesn't think it would help anyway.

group therapy can be really very scarey. on the upside... everybody finds it really very scarey. usually the group therapist is very gentle and doesn't try and force the person to make big disclosures. it might be that she could go a few times and kind of observe... then see if it feels safe to disclose or not. maybe...

sometimes... the way it helps is that there are things that one struggles with and one comes to think that one really is a freak of nature for struggling with that. sometimes someone else in the group discloses something and we can go 'OMG i get that too!'. and we feel less alone in the world. because we know that other people are going through the same crap. and sometimes feeling less alone... is the most healing thing of all.

> What she really wants is something like hypno therapy or electro-shock therapy because she is at constant war with her own mind.

yeah. i understand the feeling of an internal war :-( unfortunately... hypno therapy or electro-shock therapy aren't likely to help with that (in fact hypno therapy could well make things worse). electro-shock therapy... well it is a little like being medicated into a stupor, i guess. might help for a while but the same old stuff just will keep on coming back.

the internal war can be about dyregulated emotions. feeling really really really really bad and not knowing how to feel better. feeling really hopeless... sometimes that is about a real 'war from within' where one is ones own worst critic. especially when other people have treated us like crap we can come to internalise that and keep the trauma alive by doing it to ourself, basically. because we don't know any different.

the healing thing is kindness... other people being kind and learning to internalise that and be kind to oneself. that kindness can come from sympathetic psychiatrists and therapists and other group members... but life surely is a struggle at times, it surely surely is..

> Much of her current issues can be helped to some degree by talking to a good therapist, I'm sure, but there is so much constantly going on in her mind that she can't control, so I'm afraid that kind of therapy won't likely give her as much help as she needs.

Its partly about learning to have control over those things in your mind that you can't control. Learning how to regulate intensely negative emotions. Learning how to regulate those deep feelings of depression and despair.

And... Learning how to trust. To see the world as being basically a safe and accepting place. An alright place. To be able to get out of ones head and enjoy a sunset or a bubblebath or a friend being there for us being attuned to our feelings.

Time. It is a hard road sometimes... But yeah, maybe you could try and encorage her to ask her p-doc about therapy. To give group therapy a try. To... Post to a message board (maybe) so she might be able to see some benefits to group therapy?