[Trace14]

Has anyone tried this? I have brought this topic up before and not many people had tried it. Thought we could revisit it and see if anything has changed. I just started it a couple of weeks ago and I'm trying not to learn too much about it because I don't want to mess up the natural course of the therapy. I do know that I will listen to the recordings of the sessions once in between sessions and will have homework and may have to visit some places that I usually don't. I'm really confused on how that is suppose to help anything but we will see. She used the example if you pet a dog and it bites you most like you will be scared of dogs and afraid to pet them. But if you find a friendly dog and start petting it , you will see that it's safe to pet dogs......at least until one takes your arm off. Anyway....that's how it's suppose to work.

[Unrigged64072835]

I have to do the same thing for my agoraphobia and fear of driving. Just getting used to being outside my house is going to be interesting.

[Trace14]

Originally Posted by Fharraige

I have to do the same thing for my agoraphobia and fear of driving. Just getting used to being outside my house is going to be interesting.

I understand , that's an issue for me as well but it's not a fear of driving, just a fear of leaving the house
Hope it works out for us.

[Trace14]

Originally Posted by Fharraige

I have to do the same thing for my agoraphobia and fear of driving. Just getting used to being outside my house is going to be interesting.

How long have you been using PE treatment and is it working?

[Trace14]

Moving on in the PE therapy. Listening to our recorded sessions once weekly and that's not as hard as I thought it would be but we haven't really gotten into the hard conversations yet. May have a different idea about that later, but we will see. Now we are assigning SUDS values to my issues that cause me the most stress. That's harder than it sounds. Keep moving on though

[ray68]

I have done this by myself as a tool and it has worked very well. One is from driving in a certain area and getting in an accident which I have almost completely recovered from. Another is more deeply ingrained from childhood and has to deal with being electrocuted. I force myself/think of creative ways, to deal with electricity as in our modern world we need to interact with it. It can be as simple as using the vacuum which always shocks me when I use it.

[Trace14]

Originally Posted by ray68

I have done this by myself as a tool and it has worked very well. One is from driving in a certain area and getting in an accident which I have almost completely recovered from. Another is more deeply ingrained from childhood and has to deal with being electrocuted. I force myself/think of creative ways, to deal with electricity as in our modern world we need to interact with it. It can be as simple as using the vacuum which always shocks me when I use it.

Sounds like you had a justifiable reason not to vacuum I can see where this would work and goes back to that face your fears type of thing but I guess to it all depends on the trauma. Situations of abuse you really wouldn't want to create, except some of the external factors that would be safe to approach.
When I first mentioned PE therapy I had several comments where people really were against it and even fearful of it. Almost made me back out but I figured that I still have some control over the therapy and that if it was too much I could always stop. Since I just started I can't honestly say if it's a good or bad idea. Though articles do support this type of therapy for PTSD and have had good results. Now....there was no mention of CPTSD so that may be something they just have not investigated with this. Time will tell

[Unrigged64072835]

Originally Posted by Trace14

How long have you been using PE treatment and is it working?

I've been at it for a couple of months. Haven't gotten very far yet but it's still a work in progress.

[Trace14]

Originally Posted by Fharraige

I've been at it for a couple of months. Haven't gotten very far yet but it's still a work in progress.

Just keep at it. I will be doing session 3 next week so it's early to tell , for me also, if it works or not for my situation.

[avlady]

i am agoriphobic too, but i like our yard, also i am scared to get into a car. i was in several accidents, none my fault. that is why i'm afraid to go out of the house. my husband drives like a maniac too. good luck for everyone else!!!

[Trace14]

Originally Posted by avlady

i am agoriphobic too, but i like our yard, also i am scared to get into a car. i was in several accidents, none my fault. that is why i'm afraid to go out of the house. my husband drives like a maniac too. good luck for everyone else!!!

Fear of leaving the house seems to be a common thread for some of us. I'm hoping this therapy will help get me over that hump. I would like to go more places and stop living in this prison at home. I love my house but I would like to get out and travel a little more.

[Trace14]

Well of course Kati Morton had an Exposure Therapy

[Teanne]

Originally Posted by Fharraige

I have to do the same thing for my agoraphobia and fear of driving. Just getting used to being outside my house is going to be interesting.

I went through agoraphobia several years ago. My psychologist had me do exposure therapy to overcome it. He had me work through the issue first by identifying why I had it and then having me take little baby steps toward overcoming the problem. After I accomplished one step successfully and felt comfortable and safe, he had me reward myself with a small gift or special meal. Then he would assign me another step.

We kept going on like this for several months. That is when I could feel that I was making real progress and was able to go out into the public without major fears. I won't lie...there were a couple little set-backs along the way, but exposure therapy really did the trick for me. It took a couple years to really get comfortable and feel like I had overcome the problem.

A couple years later, I went to a national convention for people in my profession. I went up on stage and read a paper that I had written based on some research I had done. I forced myself to do this just to prove to myself that I had taken the bull by the horns. There is no way I could have done this without the exposure therapy. I would very highly recommend this type of therapy to anyone with agoraphobia or social phobia.

[Trace14]

Originally Posted by Teanne

I went through agoraphobia several years ago. My psychologist had me do exposure therapy to overcome it. He had me work through the issue first by identifying why I had it and then having me take little baby steps toward overcoming the problem. After I accomplished one step successfully and felt comfortable and safe, he had me reward myself with a small gift or special meal. Then he would assign me another step.

We kept going on like this for several months. That is when I could feel that I was making real progress and was able to go out into the public without major fears. I won't lie...there were a couple little set-backs along the way, but exposure therapy really did the trick for me. It took a couple years to really get comfortable and feel like I had overcome the problem.

A couple years later, I went to a national convention for people in my profession. I went up on stage and read a paper that I had written based on some research I had done. I forced myself to do this just to prove to myself that I had taken the bull by the horns. There is no way I could have done this without the exposure therapy. I would very highly recommend this type of therapy to anyone with agoraphobia or social phobia.

That is wonderful and thanks for that positive feedback on this type of therapy. That's the wonderful thing about forums like this, we can discuss other therapies and become educated in them. With that being said not all therapies fit all people, but at least we know a little more about them and that they can work. Thanks again.

[Teanne]

Originally Posted by Trace14

That is wonderful and thanks for that positive feedback on this type of therapy. That's the wonderful thing about forums like this, we can discuss other therapies and become educated in them. With that being said not all therapies fit all people, but at least we know a little more about them and that they can work. Thanks again.

I agree that not all therapies work for all people...just like all medications do not work for all people. Even though I conquered my agoraphobia, I still have treatment-resistant depression to deal with. Also, even though I dealt successfully with agoraphobia, I still remain an introvert and a homebody. I'll never be a party animal. However, I have no desire to be an extrovert. I like who I am.

[Trace14]

Originally Posted by Teanne

I agree that not all therapies work for all people...just like all medications do not work for all people. Even though I conquered my agoraphobia, I still have treatment-resistant depression to deal with. Also, even though I dealt successfully with agoraphobia, I still remain an introvert and a homebody. I'll never be a party animal. However, I have no desire to be an extrovert. I like who I am.

Being happy with who you are truly is the key to happiness. Glad you found that place to be in your life. I expect if we did an inventory on our lives there might be things you want to change, or have a do over. Some of it is possible, but only in baby steps. We got to where we are at over a long period of time and we can not expect to change all of a sudden. Like most things in life it's a work in progress. "It's a process, not perfection" by Kati Morton

[Trace14]

Okay, so the first couple of sessions went well. Yesterday on the 3rd session I had to repeat the sequence of events in finding Dad. Oh my gosh. I was a babbling idiot. I thought I was done with crying over this, it totally surprised me that I was still this upset about it. Then it triggered so many other things. Then the tele session was over and I spent a good 6 hours crying and dissociating about the session. Now maybe this is the plan with this type of therapy. I was warned it would be hard, but not to this extent. So now I'm suppose to listen to the recording of this triggering, upsetting session everyday, till next week. I will give it a try. You know this therapy may work better for single event issues. But with the deluge of traumatic memories I have not sure this is the right way to go. Anyway, just thought I would share this here in case this type of therapy was offered to you and you would have an idea of what was to come.

[Trace14]

To follow up. I've been listening to this really hard part of the tape and I do so with no reaction really, it's like listening to someone else's story. I have even repeated the same scenario verbally, out loud and it doesn't effect me like the session did. Now one thing that was different is 1. my eyes were closed when the original story was told and I got so upset. 2. I wasn't expecting to have to discuss this in such detail 3. I was totally shocked that I got so emotional about the story at this point. So the question is am I detaching from the story, or was that release of emotions then a benefit?

[Trace14]

Okay, had another session today and it went well. Didn't have to go over the recorded message again because of lack of time, thank goodness. But I still need to listen to it daily. It was suggested I not walk around doing things while I listened. That might be why I was detaching from the story.

[Trace14]

Originally Posted by Trace14

Okay, had another session today and it went well. Didn't have to go over the recorded message again because of lack of time, thank goodness. But I still need to listen to it daily. It was suggested I not walk around doing things while I listened. That might be why I was detaching from the story.

Had another session Wednesday, we retaped the story of finding Dad, this time I only cried a little. But I felt like I was rushing through it to keep from getting attached to the story emotionally. I think the T even noticed because one time she told me to slow down. I also told her about my grandfather, but it was with eyes open and kind of quick also. After that first week I tried to tell the story with Dad over and over until I could do it without crying, but then I found out that this was the wrong thing to do. That I needed to feel my emotions when telling the story. It does make a difference when your eyes are closed, then you envision the scene. Eyes open you are looking at all before you.

[Trace14]

Another session after two weeks since last one. I have been so tired of listening to that tape of me telling the story of arriving at my Dad's house until I got home and found his message on the answering machine. So I slacked off a lot last week. I was bored and tired of hearing it, detaching in a way I guess, not taking ownership of it. I never cry when I listen to it on my own, but eyes closed and having to walk through it to explain it to someone else. I cry a lot, which surprises me, I thought, and was hoping, I was cried out over this. But I guess it continues to haunt the subconscious no matter how hard I try to subdue it.

[Trace14]

Seems like everything I say the T says it's an avoidance tactic. Is there anything that's not an avoidance tactic? Really? If I walk outside I'm avoiding doing laundry inside, if I pee(in the toilet) , I'm avoiding doing laundry again , have sex, avoiding talking to your partner. I think you can turn anything into an avoiding tactic.

[Trace14]

Hate after effects of a PE session, seems to bring up more than you really want to deal with, you "emotionally connect with things you don't want to.

[Trace14]

Do you ever cry in front of your T? Do they react? Mine doesn't. But I hate it when I cry in front of her. Maybe it's a good thing though. I think I re-group quicker if she says and does nothing. I think if she tried to console me it might make me even more sad, or mad.

[reb569]

In one session with my therapist, I revealed a lot of my history to her. I was surprised at how emotional I got since I am generally very stoic around other people. Tears did run, but it wasn't all out crying, I was more in a super high state of anxiety. She was empathetic and understanding, but not overly reactive to what I said. But I could also tell that it impacted her.