I think it's probably good that you terminated when you did. That was probably a very good self preservation instinct.

There are many people who believe as you do, that going over childhood memories is not always helpful and can hurt. I had a very bad experience with a psychodynamic therapist the first time I went to therapy. She kept encouraging me to find more and more traumatic memories. I'd find them and she'd give me lots of attention and empathy for them. I think it got me into a victim mindset, which made me more depressed and hopeless. I wasn't suicidal when I started with her, but I became that way six months into therapy.

After that experience I stayed far away from psychodynamic therapists. I still wouldn't choose to do that type of therapy exclusively. I think it misses some of the key points of therapy...of changing thoughts and behaviors that you are having now.

I have found some use in going back into memories though. Sometimes I will have a very quick, instinctive fear or anger reaction to someone or something someone says. It's been helpful when my therapist asks me "when do you first remember feeling that way?" I can usually tell him. I think knowing that there is a reason for my fear makes me feel better about it. But the next crucial step is realizing that although I didn't have any choice when I was a child of how I responded, I do now. I might still feel the feelings that I did then, but I don't have to stay in victim mode. I can act differently now because I'm an adult.