My Support Forums - View Single Post - Bipolar check-in #71

BeyondtheRainbow · Dec 19, 2022, 05:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by *Beth*

Well, I've been seeing her for almost 5 years, but she's been absent so much for health problems (I know they're genuine, but ) and sometimes family issues (seems she has a lot of those) so if I add it all up, I'd say we've actually been in therapy for 3 1/2 years. The inconsistency is terrible, so stressful for me that in the first month of our therapy I was in a manic episode, she got sick, I had a breakdown, and that was when I was taken by the cops (not at all kindly) to IP. That time she was out for a full 3 months.

Add her absences to her very bad memory (she takes loads of notes; I don't know why). She has confused me with other clients on occasion, and thought someone in my life had passed who had not, at all, which was quite awkward.

I began talking with her about my trauma issues quite early on...maybe 6 months in. She was very supportive. I just

Thank you for the toy ideas!

@*Beth* in my experience you have to be really ready for the trauma stuff and have a firm trust that the therapist is going to be there for you before you can do it. I had years of therapy with this therapist before we started the trauma stuff in detail. We talked about it intermittently for several years but it wasn't until 6 years in that we reached the point I could tell him everything that I needed to tell him and work through it. I did exposure therapy which is harsher than some of the other options and there is no way I could have done that without trusting him. And when I say trusting him I mean I had to trust that he was going to be there every week until the worst was over. When he went on vacation I saw another therapist just to have the support (we did not talk about trauma). M doesn't really seem to give you that structural support, so to speak. and I know I couldn't have done the exposure therapy without that kind of support.

Just my experience and opinion.....