CPT Group therapy

We are now working on some questions about stuck points. The questions are hard, make me think deeply on what they are asking. Some apply to the stuck points and some not so much. Some bring up questions of my own. Group therapy sucks in this aspect. You want to ask questions but not look like a fool, so I don't ask. Doesn't seem like anyone here has gone through this, so......I can only hope that in the future if someone does CPT they can come to this thread and see my questions and what responses are here to help them.
One of my stuck points is not being able to see a future, but that might because I live in such isolation that when I'm around other people, I'm not. Kind of like being in a bubble watching the world go by. Does anyone else have a problem with seeing them self in the future?

One of the symptoms of PTSD is in fact not seeing a future. I have struggled with that myself so I know the challenge you are describing. Also isolating and having a desire to be "invisible".

A trauma that is significant enough where an individual loses all their sense of control can most definitely damage their ability to see a future and have their own sense of control over their life/presence as a human being. Some very "strong" individuals, individuals that have a strong will and have been survivors can break if a trauma big enough happens to them. You are only human and it can take time for one to regain their sense of self after a major trauma.

I switch between seeing no future and imagining one pottering around in a little cottage in the woods surrounded by pets. That inspired me until I start to wonder if that horrible anxiety would follow me.

Not only could I see no future but I knew there was none in the place where I was. Only more of the past as long as I was trapped there.

After numerous suicide attempts thinking that was my only way to escape where I was, a door opened up after my mom died. It took me several years after the final trauma I went through to be able to function enough deal with what I had to take care of & in my case, I know that it was God that put things in place at the right time & way made things happen so that I could walk through that door & never look back with any regret other than wishing it had happened sooner (not under my control so just thankful it happened when it did)

It was after leaving that all the support & good therapy opened up. Like you, i hated group therapy before landing 2 years in an intense DBT therapy group with the most outstanding group leader. She taught it like a college class in how the mind works. It just all started to make sense & it was the first group I was ever in where participation & asking questions for clarification was not only encouraged but comfortable to do. For all of us, DBT was like a foreign language we had never encountered before. It was such an awesome feel as each us us had our lightbulb moments in how it applied to our own personal experiences.

I still had no vision of my future. Just took one day at a time. I had never owned a small farm before or lived is a small town so everything was new & being a small welcoming town I started to feel safe & met people who cared & who were easy to care about & my wellness has & is growing from there. Love my single life even though I have had to learn how to be a plumber, a mechanic (lawn tractor & truck), & overall handyman. I still have no idea of my future as I struggle to afford fencing & all that is needed to finally get my horse here. But my daily existsnce is so enjoyable after all the crap I lived around all my life, whatever the future holds will still be so much better than the past that I can see myself in my future no matter what happens now.

One of the things that often gets shattered when it comes to complex PTSD is "trust".

When we are children we have no choice but to "trust" our parent/caregiver. Children simply don't have the life experience to know what to do and how to respond or even that their overall navigational skills will take a lot more time to develop. So, we are designed to "trust" by nature and imprint.

If you watch birds for example, when birds build a nest and lay eggs, from that moment that developing baby bird completely depends on the parent to lay on that egg and keep it warm so it can slowly develop. Then when the baby hatches, again it is completely dependent on the parent to nourish it and still keep it warm because the baby bird doesn't even have feathers yet. As these babies grow they learn to "trust" that the parent will show up with food and the noises they make get a lot louder.

Watching baby birds is educational, but, these baby birds reach maturity in such a short time compared to a human child. Human children have to "trust" a lot longer than any other mammal. A human child is VERY dependent and VERY susceptible when it comes to imprinting based on what they experience in their environment.

Having to "trust" also means "believing". For example, young children can be encouraged to actually "believe" in Santa Clause and Unicorns and lots to things that are not actually REAL.

Trauma chips away at our "trust". When we are young we "learn" how to survive despite this challenge. However, children are still very vulnerable to "believing". Children are STILL very vulnerable to "Monkey see, Monkey do", so appropriate because after all we are "primates".

The symptoms that you are describing that present with PTSD are the symptoms that individuals struggle with when the individual faces enough trauma, or a major trauma to the point where their "trust" is so badly shattered that they begin to pull away and slowly isolate. This includes "self trust" too.

The correct therapy is crucial because what someone struggling with PTSD needs help with is rebuilding trust, in someone else and THEMSELVES. Each individual will be different depending on their "history" too. A good "trauma" specialist must also be able to take into consideration the patient's "cultural" beliefs too. A trauma specialist's first goal when treating a "trauma patient" is creating a SAFE environment for that "trauma patient". It can take the patient a while "just" to feel safe with a therapist because the trauma patient's "trust" has been completely SHATTERED.

Unfortunately, what often happens is that a trauma patient/ victim is often told "Just get over it, Just forget it, Let it go, You have to see it this way, It is not that important, You are thinking wrong, You ARE wrong, Stop thinking about it, You have to move on, get with the program, JUST SNAP OUT OF IT, don't dwell, just to name a few WRONG responses". Unfortunately, some of the worst offenders are one's own family and even friends too. MOST people who struggle with PTSD/complex PTSD will talk about feeling and being LONELY with their challenge. Also, there is a deep "fear" in talking about themselves too, this is due to "total lack of trust" and not knowing HOW to talk about it.

So, it's not at all surprising that someone struggling can't see a "future" or begins to "isolate" and "withdraw" and develop all the symptoms that present with PTSD. The sensitivity level is very high in more ways that can actually confuse and frighten someone who experiences a post traumatic breakdown that if not addressed correctly develops into PTSD.

When something is shattered, it takes a lot of time to SLOWLY put a lot of pieces back together where a person can "learn" to live and slowly regain their sense of "trust".

Santa Claus is NOT real????????? Never thought it would take this long to get back in sync with life though, seems to be getting worse. Up until Dad died I seem to handle things pretty well, I was short tempered, untrusting, but that just seem genetic. Now it's being redefined and I'm being asked to change most of my ways of thinking. I guess finding Dad lowered that thresh hold of keeping the memories in check. Then they all came out at one time and overwhelmed me and it's hard to cope with that.

That is what I mean by "shattered". It's also not unusual for one's condition to get worse before they begin to "improve" either. One can survive several traumas and then have a trauma so big that the person gets completely overwhelmed.

We are designed by nature to respond "differently" once we are exposed to something we thought harmless turns out to be something "bad". Or something we believed we could contain and control takes us by complete surprise when we can't or didn't and that something was damaged or destroyed. This can make anyone question themselves, what they knew and their history of overall experience and knowledge.