Quote:
Originally Posted by here today
I am finally getting OK, maybe, after 5 years of therapy for PDNOS and DDNOS.
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The therapists’ didn’t get me and I didn’t get that they were not helping and even hurting me, because of my numbed out, dissociated feelings.
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But do you think it’s possible it might do some good? In my experience, expecting numbed-out people to evaluate the effectiveness of a therapy is not reasonable. It gets the therapists off the hook but hurts the clients.
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YES! Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes... please!
First, congratulations on your recovery! That's really exciting to hear that things are getting better for you. I'd actually LOVE to hear more about how you found an effective therapist to deal with your dissociative issues, at what point you knew that they would be helpful (i.e. was there an immediate difference compared to your past therapists, or did it take some time getting to know them), and any other hints you might be willing to share.
I think something like that could be incredibly helpful. I hope so anyway, because I agree with you, there is really an unfortunate number of therapists that don't know what they're doing and either can't recognize dissociative disorders (some don't believe in them, thus, don't see the symptoms) or just don't know how to treat it effectively.
About 15 years ago, I mentioned to my then-T (who I'd seen for a year, with no results), that I thought I might dissociate (I had just learned about dissociation online). His response was... "so, you mentioned the D-word.". He wouldn't say it, was freaked out by, and as it turns out, didn't believe in dissociative disorders (!). After a bit of back and forth, he found a specialist for me to do a consult with, who diagnosed me (either DDNOS or DID, the report is a little unclear). I was promptly kicked out of therapy, and the specialist couldn't see me either.
I had a terrible time then trying to find a therapist, and eventually quit therapy altogether to focus on stabilizing my life. I'm back in therapy, but I'm afraid that I might be replaying some of the old therapy tracks (my new T is super stable and has a ton of experience, but... doesn't know anything about dissociative disorders. Sigh.)
It's *so* freaking hard. And this... shouldn't even be the hard part.
So, I'd LOVE to see your blog. I'd probably ask my T to read stuff that was relevant to my experiences. And, if you had any interest at all, I'd love to share some of my experiences with an anonymous guest post
(no worries if you're not interested in that!)
Thanks!