[confused43]

Hi
Has anyone been to group therapy? My therapist is nagging me to go to her group of DID people. I really do not want to go. I dont like meetng new people and I don't like croweds. If you guys have been to a DID group whats it like? She said all they do is sit and talk about DID stuff. She also wants me to go to a talk that is at my school tomorrow night which is on DID. I dont know if i really want to or not. she said she is going.I hate croweds and I am uncomfortable seeing my therapist outside of therapy. I am starting to hate therapy. She asked what do i want to work on in therapy. I said i dont know. she said she would like to work on communication between the other alters and my self but i am not even interested. What i would like to work on is to figure out what im doing with my self and my lfie. I would also would like to work on stablizing my mood. and not hating people so much to the point that i think about killing them. I also want to work on trying to live and not to be afraid of living so much. Does anyone else struggle with these things or is it just me?

[Cyan]

Hi Confused,

Group therapy might not be a bad idea. Can you ask your therapist how many individuals go? I have participated in one group. I didn't go very long. I was scared and was not very grounded.

The talk at your school might be good too. But I do understand crowds being an issue.

Have you told your therapist that you are not comfortable with crowds, that what you want to work on in theray is not hating and trying to live? It sounds like you and her have different goals for therapy.

I don't know about you, but I deal with huge PTSD issues and I really need/needed to work on some of that before I could even begin to work on some of the DID stuff.

Cyan

[confused43]

YEAH we seem to have different goals. I am so nervous about therapy tomorrow. I am dreading it. I am hopeing this week goes by quick because i have to go see the psychiatrist as well on Thursday. I made a list of stuff that i want to work on in therapy . i am going to bring it to tomorros session.

I haven't been in a therapy group for DID but have been in other group therapy groups as well as support groups.

The difference between support groups and therapy groups is that -

therapy groups are geared towards learning about that specific topic and learning specific techniques for taking care of yourself and your problems associated with that topic. Kind of like being in school or college. the therapist that is running the group decides the "lesson plans" then at the group the therapist presents the material like a teacher would in school. Some therapy groups are informal where everyone as long as it is organized and staying on the topic of that days lessons the therapist allows the clients to just answer the questions. Other therapy groups are more formal where the therapist asks a question and then they go around the room and each person has to either answer the question asked or say "pass" if they don't want to answer that question. Therapy groups usually have a workbook and or text book that the therapist and clients are using. for example when I was in a therapy group for depression my therapist LL happened to be the one running the group and she chose the workbook "Mind over Mood" and supplimented this with other worksheet too that we did in class. Therapy groups usually have some sort of homework that the clients have to spend time using and applying that weeks material in some way to the clients life outside the group and then the next week report to the group how applying the matieral worked for them that week.

Support groups are more informal. and geared more for listneing to each other, and being there like a friend for the other members and recieving the same support from others. no professional running the group and no professional in the group participating as a professional unless the group as a whole decide to invite a professional in as a guest speaker to learn about what that therapist in general can offer anyone that would walk in that therapist agency. the group is facilitated and run by the members of the support group. they usually decide if they want to have a topic the next week or just meet and talk about what the group was for and what happened to them and helping eachother brainstorm ideas on what to do for whatever problems they happen to be having.

Ive attended therapy groups for anger management, parenting classes and 3 depression management/ anxiety groups in the past 5-6 years.

With each one with the exception of the first depression management group that I dropped out of I learned alot about how to take care of myself and my depression.

The type of material you will be learning in a therapy group for DID will be things like lessons on -

grounding techniques
relaxation techniques
what DID is from a professional point of view
How to recognize when you start feeling dissociated so that you can actively use the grounding techniques so that you do not dissociate away from your problems
learn how to meet your problems head on and take care of then instead of dissociatiting.

you may also touch on how to keep a dissociation log
journal
art therapy and other crafts that will eenable you to express yourself instead of dissociating when triggered.

[woundedhearts]

I am currently in a DID support group. It is helpful about 99% of the time. At the present time there is some stresses that are going on and I think it is basically because of the time of year. I don't know what I would do without the group.

It is a decision for the individual to make. No one can force you to go or speak out if you don't wish to. Go with your gut feeling. If it isn't the time right now to go, then tell your T that. If you want to just put your toe in and see how it is like, go for one group session and see what it is like. It's whatever you feel is more comfortable to you.

[wanttoheal]

I totally understand the new people/crowd thing. Phew, I dissociate when I walk into a room with more than 2 people in it that I don't know. I can't even imagine doing a group thing at this time and be expected to communicate intelligently (not that all these parts don't have some kind of intelligence ).

Can you let your T know your fears and reservations? Best of luck in whatever you decide.