Quote:
Originally Posted by Semi-depressed
I have started with a new therapist and she is much better and has a lot more experience. Her bio speaks of Trauma treatment and PTSD.
The issue is that so far she has only listened to my story. She has also started saying things like 'I don't follow any defined treatment model', 'I don't follow a list of steps', 'I want you to lead this', and 'I want you to be in control'. Mean while she just listens to my story and writes stuff down she finds interesting. As far as I know she has done no analysis and when I asked about her steps and experience with c-PTSD she told me that she had to get to know me and that this would be fluid.
Everything I have read suggests that c-PTSD trauma survivors respond best to a staged therapy. I could provide loads of references, but anybody that has done any reading about c-PTSD has seen that phase oriented treatment is almost always recommended.
Psychoanalysis? I have not gotten anything like that from her. I have told stories, she has told me a bunch of stuff I already knew, and told me that I had already made a lot of progress on my own (in reference to my coping strategies, and how operational I was based on my past). But what I came to her for was healing and dealing with the source of my problems. I am dealing with the symptoms pretty well already.
I have been told that I will not get in touch with my emotions while I am being so analytical, but I also feel like I need to know where we are headed before I invest in weeks of therapy.
Thoughts.
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1. The T does need to get to know you first. That will take several, sometimes many, sessions. Patience is required. I know that I often return to therapy when I feel desperate and need immediate relief of some sort. Therapy takes time and treating c-PTSD takes more time than other issues.
2. I had therapy at a center where the T's seemed to do very little except listen. Finally, my 3rd therapist at the center (I'd made no progress under the prior 2) called in the director when I protested. The director told me that the therapy at the center was patient led. I left immediately as c-PTSD is something I cannot treat on my own and a certain degree (actually, IMO, a lot) of therapist intervention is required. My recommendation? Get out of there and get a better therapist. I've heard it all before "I'm eclectic and don't follow any one particular type of treatment;" and "I want you to take the lead" (in other words, I do not want to take responsibility for your treatment success or failure). Find a real trauma specialist. Be aware that there are not many treatments and progress is slow.
It appears that many counselling centers, it an attempt to squeeze in as many patients as possible, are using a new tactic where therapy is almost totally patient led. It absolves the therapist / therapy center of responsibility for outcomes (which helps legally too). In my experience, this approach to psychotherapy also does not help patients with issues who require specific treatments or interventions to make progress. A sign of a center like this is where all patients are required to sign a "treatment plan" that they never see because it's the same generic and vague treatment plan for all patients; it's intended to protect them from being sued for incompetence and nothing more.
It is important to have a T who works with you and to some extent guides you when you cannot help yourself. A T who just listens is mostly useless in my opinion. Ultimately, it's your decision. You have to do what is best for you. Tell the T what you need from them and if they cannot or will not deliver then move on.