Struggling

I hope the trauma therapist proves helpful for you. Sorry things haven't been ideal. Keep us updated

I see.

I'm sorry to hear that reducing to once a week has been so hard for you. I know how frustrating it can be when work gets in the way. I have run into similar issues with work and it's beyond frustrating.

I hope this trauma therapist can help you out. I'm just concerned that you may get triggered and am wondering if this therapist allows you to call her outside of appts? If you don't know, definitely ask her about it. Some people on this forum have had a very difficult time with trauma and needed extra time to talk to their therapist. I'm not discouraging you from seeing a trauma therapist, however. I think you should do it if you think you're ready and I think it may also help you a lot. But definitely ask about out of session contact.

Yeah out of session contact is important to me. I tend to process after session and like to send those thoughts to the therapist before I forget. Also if I am trigger it helps to calm me down.

Just told my T that I have an appointment with the trauma therapist. She said she thinks it is a good idea to see a trauma specialist and that her goal is just for me to feel better.

Hey, Crook--I am so sorry I posted this here. I meant to put it in the checkin. Really apologize!!!!!!

It is ok. I didn’t mind.

Yes, I feel the same way.

Maybe during your first appt, you can come up with an action plan? I personally think it's good to come up with an action plan *before* you delve into the PTSD discussions. You do not want to get triggered your first appt and then not have an action plan to deal with it.

I realize that an action plan may take up the bulk of your session, if not the entire session itself, but I think a lot of people wished they had an action plan in place.

My cousin has PTSD from being a paratrooper in Afghanistan, and before he did any kind of discussions with his pdoc, he came up with an action plan because he is the kind of person to get triggered easily and needed to have steps he could take to avoid doing anything impulsive. Just my opinion, though.

All good ideas. I just hope to have a productive discussion and get a feel for her. I am nervous and excited at the same time.

New T seems nice. Says trauma work will be hard but she thinks I need it. Says I can’t see her and my other T so I have to end things with my current one. That is going to be hard. She allows out of session calls, texts or emails. So that is good. She sounds like she would be more responsive than my current T. I am sad to leave my current T even though I have known for awhile that it needed to be done.

Sorry that you have to prematurely cut ties with your current therapist. It is always difficult to leave a mental health professional after we've had so many sessions with them. For a lot of us, there were lots of tears, anger, depression, etc. involved, and our therapists have managed to make us feel better despite everything going on in our lives at that time. It really is like losing a good friend.

The good news is that your new therapist allows out of session contact. I think that should make the transition MUCH smoother. However, if your original therapist allows it, you should ask for a closing session to finish the last chapter before you move on to your new therapist. Sometimes finishing with loose ends can be difficult to cope with.

I just wish we could finish in person. It won’t feel satisfying to say goodbye over video. I see her Wednesday.

Sorry to hear that.

I hope your video chat helps, even if it only helps a little bit. I know it's not the same as saying good-bye in person though.

Will she allow you to keep in contact with her? Have you asked that? Or is she completely cutting ties? I know that some people keep in contact with their old T's for various reasons.

She might allow 1 email a year with no promise she will write back.