"I wouldn't do any of the workbooks unless your T agrees...as you can expose yourself to too much, too fast, and slow your healing overall sometimes"

Yeah - I was in Barnes and Noble a month or so ago and saw a PTSD workbook so I picked it up out of curiosity. There was this CHECKLIST right at the beginning where you're supposed to check the traumas that have happened to you. Just remembering looking at that list, in black and white, makes me feel sick. I put the book back and left the store immediately. I told T about it at my last session, and he agreed that seeing that list could be traumatizing in itself, if you haven't learned containment, grounding, etc. etc. yet. Blah. No workbooks for me.

I probably sound farther along than I am in my first post. I totally get what riptide says about three steps forward four steps back. It's like I dip my big toe in the pool, and then have to run far far away before I'm ready to come back and try again. It's so hard, and slow. But I don't want to be overwhelmed, and it doesn't take much for me to get to the overwhelmed place