[rep97]

Today was the second visit to my therapist. She is from the hospital where I receive treatment. She is so pushy. She kept talking and talking and talking and talking and OMG talking. She kept saying grounding techniques and this and that.

I told her I have tried those things 100s of times and never work during my emotional flashbacks/panic attacks. But she kept pushing to try more. Very frustrating. I hate therapists like that.

Btw she is MSW RSW. So I am guessing and am pretty sure she doesn't have training in trauma treatment. So that is why she is pushy with the grounding techniques.

But after talking I didn't even get to talk about the trauma itself because she was talking so much.

And also I did not get to tell her that besides the emotional flashbacks/panic attacks I also seem detached from myself. I used to have a connection to my gut before but now I don't feel that connection. I am all up here.. in the mind. And it is exhausting. I am in my mind all the time 24/7 and no gut connection or feeling from the gut. I am detached from myself in a way.

I don't know if anyone else feels this way but I feel like after the traumatic incidents 3-4 yrs ago I have been dumbed down and there is no gut connection in my body and I am all up in my mind all the time and it is exhausting and painful.

[CANDC]

Rep97, having therapy in the same hospital you work may or may not be preferable. Having a therapist that listens and is an expert in PTSD is essential. Reexamine your professional options and do not continue to suffer under someone who knows all the answers before they even know you.

Disclaimer: I do not know if any of the following lifestyle changes will help you but they help me.

This one is for "gut awareness". One thing I try is a breathing exercise to focus on the breath instead of fighting with the thoughts.

Breathing exercise with natural breathing do not force.
If you are feeling very anxious or angry or just want to calm down, you can try a breathing exercise that takes the attention away from the trigger of anxiety to a simple tool of counting breaths.

Find a comfortable position seated or laying down. Begin to relax your breathing. Silently count 1 on the inhale, and two on the exhale. Then silently count 3 on the inhale and 4 on the exhale. Continue up to 10 or until you lose the count then return to one. No judgement. I sometimes end up at 18 then smile and return to 1. The idea is to focus on the breath and the counting and not get sucked into the anxiety or anger trigger. Also works to quiet the mind.

I have to watch what I eat because foods I eat can stabilize my moods or exaggerate them. A high protein low carb diet with snacks or meals every 3-4 hours will over time reduce my swings. I also avoid alcohol and recreational drugs because those can really increase depression.

Other lifestyle changes that help me are doing yoga, exercises, mindfulness, calm music, and being active on Psych Central.

There are lots of compassionate people here that can make the load lighter by sharing and caring. Feel free to participate actively at Psych Central.
http://forums.psychcentral.com

Please feel free to private message me or any of the Community Liaisons by left clicking on the name in blue to the left of their post) for questions or just to share.

[Creative ToFu]

She sounds horrible, do you have to work with her or can you find somebody else? Was she like this on her first visit?

As far as the MSW RSW thing, my formal T I had for many years before I recently moved is one of the top trauma experts with the same schooling as this one. She had a lot more training after it through EMDR, etc.

Grounding is so important to do with intense trauma work but she and her office needs to become a safe place first. You barely know her and it seems like she is rushing things. You can't force trust with people who have had trauma, it backfires if you do. If a T is trying too hard in the beginning for trust, I am wondering why I shouldn't trust her because she is trying too hard. Rushing this trust process does make me question her trauma work experience. You may be right.

Sometimes some of the grounding experiences require you to close your eyes, I wouldn't do that with a T I didn't feel comfortable with. In fact for grounding to work well in therapy requires some trust build up with the therapist. Grounding work seems so personal to me between a T and a client. I hope this T can calm down herself.
It is normal not to "feel" when you have PTSD and is very common. My T had to work so hard on me feeling the emotion instead of only thinking about it intellectually. Emotions can feel very scary and uncontrollable sometimes, it is easier to disconnect to protect ourselves. At least that is how it feels to me. But I'm weird sometimes.

Originally Posted by rep97

Today was the second visit to my therapist. She is from the hospital where I receive treatment. She is so pushy. She kept talking and talking and talking and talking and OMG talking. She kept saying grounding techniques and this and that.

I told her I have tried those things 100s of times and never work during my emotional flashbacks/panic attacks. But she kept pushing to try more. Very frustrating. I hate therapists like that.

Btw she is MSW RSW. So I am guessing and am pretty sure she doesn't have training in trauma treatment. So that is why she is pushy with the grounding techniques.

But after talking I didn't even get to talk about the trauma itself because she was talking so much.

And also I did not get to tell her that besides the emotional flashbacks/panic attacks I also seem detached from myself. I used to have a connection to my gut before but now I don't feel that connection. I am all up here.. in the mind. And it is exhausting. I am in my mind all the time 24/7 and no gut connection or feeling from the gut. I am detached from myself in a way.

I don't know if anyone else feels this way but I feel like after the traumatic incidents 3-4 yrs ago I have been dumbed down and there is no gut connection in my body and I am all up in my mind all the time and it is exhausting and painful.

[Ocean5]

Originally Posted by rep97

no gut connection in my body

This interview with trauma specialist may help you understand body and mind disconnection. If I lived near Boston I would be going there.
http://www.onbeing.org/program/restoring-the-body-bessel-van-der-kolk

And yes a therapist that "like's to hear themselves talk" is very frustrating.