[Flooded]

I'm just wondering what the therapeutic relationship has done for you? How has it helped - like details please..

I really struggle with this with my pdoc although she is lovely and a caring person and I wouldn't see anyone else, but I just don't understand how our relationship is meant to do with me getting better.

Make sense? Not when I read it back

[saidee]

For the past five years I have been diagnosed with everything, but mostly treated for anxiety and Bi polar disorder. This past week I had a major meltdown and had to go to the hospital. When they started treating me they said I did not have Bi polar only some symptoms of it, that in fact I had BPD. The Drs there have put me on different meds and want me to start a new therapy Called DBT. They are sending me to a therapist an hour away, but when I got out of the hospital I found out my therapist I have been seeing for over 2 years does this therapy. So I cancelled the appt with the other therapist and went to my appt with my usual one. When I got there she transferred me to a new therapist I had never seen before and he was male and he does not do that therapy. I went into a talespin like I had never been in before. She did the kind of therapy and specialized in BPD but never treated me or even discussed it with me. The only thing that even came close to a discussion on it, was when she had me watch the documentary "Catfish" don't watch it, it is very distressing. I am sorry if I did not address your post... I like your bottom message, that is your signature, I think. It made me cry. (everything makes me cry, it was a good cry)

[Forgive77]

I love my CBT, and DBT. I've been doing it for almost a year now. It really helps, and teaches you how to think. Things are starting to "look" better now, and I can talk myself into believing that people mean well, and they aren't evil for making a comment I don't like, and I'm learning to ignore them, and how to leave the room or change the subject. It takes work, and the will to believe in it. Are you about to start?

[Flooded]

I'm doing as much DBT with my pdoc without going into a group setting. Thankfully she is an expert in the field.

I struggle without the relationship I have with said pdoc and just don't understand how it's meant to benefit me.

[Forgive77]

Originally Posted by Flooded

I'm doing as much DBT with my pdoc without going into a group setting. Thankfully she is an expert in the field.

I struggle without the relationship I have with said pdoc and just don't understand how it's meant to benefit me.

It doesn't have to be done in a group. I have a T that does it with me, and the whole hours is spent on it. What does your T do with you?

[emptybee15]

I can't even find a therapist to suggest any helpful treatment. They just tell me they understand how I feel and pretty much just repeat what I say back to me. Or, they are just plain a-holes that could care less about anything other than the fact they are getting paid by my insurance.

I have had ones want me to try that "tapping" B-S and hypnotism and all kind of stupid crap.

My search for a T or P-doc for that matter seems like it will never end.

[Perna]

Originally Posted by Flooded

I struggle without the relationship I have with said pdoc and just don't understand how it's meant to benefit me.

Eventually you see ties to your actual life and what you are learning from pdoc carries over to there. But it does take awhile to learn how to learn, too!

[ECHOES]

I don't feel so alone.
I feel accepted, heard, and cared about.
It has helped in that it is truthful - no social niceties required, although she is as nice as can be. She is free to tell me what she's hearing me say, spoken or unspoken, and as she told me early on, she will "not always say what you want to hear".

idk, it is hard to separate the therapy from the therapy relationship sometimes. The relationship of acceptance and trust has allowed me the courage to explore things and an interested person to explore them with. It's given me opportunities to evaluate my perceptions and see if they are accurate and if not, why. It's given me the experience of sharing the mundane and not mundane details of my life and my real life relationships and learn more about them; to learn about my part and my fears and wishes.

[shezbut]

Originally Posted by Flooded

I'm just wondering what the therapeutic relationship has done for you? How has it helped - like details please..

Well, I was in DBT group therapy for a year or so ~ and it did help me to see the world a little differently. Like Forgive77 said, it isn't an overnight process. There are 4 segments of DBT: Emotion Regulation, Core Mindfulness, Interpersonal Effectiveness, and Distress Tolerance. Core Mindfulness is gone over in between each of the other segments, because it is a key ingredient in making it through life more easily.

http://www.dbtselfhelp.com/html/connecting_skills.html

Regarding my individual therapist, he isn't any one structure. He uses a variety of techniques, which has been helpful for me. The part that really clicked me with him was his validating my emotions and memories. (All of my previous T's made the mistake of telling me that my self-hate was unfair. I shouldn't have felt that way, etc.) So, this T accepting my self-hate was vital to me!

Not that he agrees that my emotions are "right". But he allows me to feel however & points out good things that he sees in me (occasionally). Just little reminders that I'm not entirely evil, I assume to get me stop with my extreme views.

That's my personal experience.

Very best wishes to you ~ I hope that you and your T are able to build a safe relationship. One which validates your feelings, but also challenges your viewpoint.