What would we do without our T's

I was thinking today how much I rely on my T. She keeps me from going completely nuts, and validates all my weird PTSD symptoms, and has helped me immensely in openning up to people and forming healthy relationships.

Sometimes I wonder how she puts up with me and my screwups. But she's wonderful.

It probably helps that she's a trauma specialist.

I'm spending a small fortune on T - paying her mortgage instead of my own, but she's worth it.

I'm just so happy I have a good T.

--splitimage

Sometimes I think some of us would be better off having to deal with things ourselves, finding resources somehow in the "real" world, rather than futilely trying to find help where it is not.

But then, this is not happy talk, is it?

my experience of doing things for myself were booze and drugs and relying on people with their own ignorances that had no real interest in my welfare, but were happy postulating. My experience is that T helps me formulate my story..helps me reflect....teaches me how to think and not what to think....I am more able to experience my truth and am more able to spot other peoples blind spots

my T is one of the things I thought of when I was considering what I am most thankful for yesterday. I have learned so much from her & having her support & guidance through a dark time in my life has been invaluable. I don't know what I would do without her, however I do know the day is coming in the not-too-distant future where I'll have to figure that out, and it makes me sad.
Regardless, I am lucky to have known her & been her client, very lucky.

I agree! And I think it takes a lot of courage for all of us to be able to accept the possibilities of what can happen when we trust our Ts and share our inner most selves. I'm sure there are lots of people who aren't brave enough.....it is sooooo hard.
Thank God for our Ts!

I consider the money I pay T my health investment. It is like paying for medication. I know when I am sick enough to need a perscription medication - and I will pay for it if I know it will get me well.

Sure, I can do most of the healing on my own. But I run the risk of mental infection! :-) So T money is investment in good mental health!

rock on.

well said.

Are they mutually exclusive? It is healthy to find resources in the real world. Therapy is one of those resources. Good therapy doesn't teach you to rely solely on the therapist. I call my therapist one of the legs in my support stool. It's good to have as many legs as possible.

Especially if you are an alien.

I agree with dinah, I see my T has being part of my efforts to find support in the real world... Leaning to connect in therapy is helping better connect with others and prevent new trauma cycles from forming while dismantling old ones.

I don't know. Well, I guess I know.. that I would be as lost as I was for so long. Although I have a long way to go, I feel better now after a couple of years of therapy. Knowing I have my time with T where I can sort out my internal experiences... is so relieving.
I used to make sure I always had Xanax with me; just knowing it was there if I needed it could make me feel calmer. Now I rarely take it, but knowing T/therapy is there can help me feel calmer even when I'm not right there.

I'm just really glad at the moment not to be worrying about doing without (i.e being kicked out).Just realized that that's a nice feeling.

I don't know, I always feel like I am on the verge of being kicked out though my T has never said that to me. Perhaps thats just my own feelings in the matter but somehow lately she just doesn't seem there

(((hangingon))) I've felt like that...most of my 2.5 years of therapy. That's why today when I thought ...I don't need to worry about .... Plan B (finding my way alone if necessary) I was kind of shocked and noted it. See 2 weeks ago my T said in an email.."as long as you know me, you will not have to deal with this alone." This message at the time was very comforting but it wasn't until today that I realized that...I actually believe her. Don't know it the feeling will last but, its nice so I hope so.

Wow Chaotic,
That was a wonderful statement for your T to make. Mine has told me she cared before but it just felt like just words to me. She has never left me with a wonderful statement like yours did in the email. That's a great one to hold on to.

She made one statement before that won't leave my head. It happened at a time where I was sharing my fear of her ditching me. She said the I can't promise you anything but my intention is not to leave you unless something is beyond my control. I hated the unless, because my mind automatically went to the thought of her keeping a way out for herself when she is sick of me.

Another time she said, your not my family, I don't care for you like that. Then a few minutes later she says, I mean I do care. I don't know, it just left me feeling like it wouldn't have come out of her mouth that way unless that was how she felt.

The crazy part is, I have never been dependent on her. Never called her yet, nothing, because of my fear of abandonment but these things really keep me from trusting her.. ugh....My mind doesn't seem to want to let go of them.

I miss T so much.

I think about this often. I know I wouldn't be where I am...looking back on where I was, I can see how much I've progressed in life. It's still a struggle, but that's just it...I'm struggling now, trying to heal and better myself, as opposed to before when I just took my lows and "realized" that that was all that was ever going to be. So to me, the struggle means that I'm trying, and I firmly believe that it is a direct result of T.

I know for a fact that I wouldn't be a psychology student if it wasn't for T. If I had quit after my last T, I know I would have been left with a bitter taste in my mouth, and I would have not wanted anything to do with psychology after that point. My current T made me realize that clinical psychology is truly what I want to do with my life.

I think i'd be in sad shape without my t because except for here on PC, I don't have any close friends at all or anyone to talk to about any of my issues or any of the big things in my life. Well, except for my h, I do have him, which is great. And my in-laws are very nice to me. But I mean, there's nobody in real life that i could talk to about the things i talk to my t about. So without her. . .yeah, i'd be in bad shape. When i first got depressed, a had about 3 good friends, but one of them moved, and the other two ended up blaming me for my depression, saying i just had a self-pitying attitude or wasn't spiritual enough. It added a ton of hurt onto the depression i was already in. Since then, i have no close friends in real life and confide in nobody except my h and t.

I don't know about the rest of you, but since i've had mental and emotional problems, i have *zip* amount of social support.

That's definitely true. After my PTSD diagnosis I told two close friends, but now after struggling for a few years I can tell they are not interested in hearing about it. It is 'too much' and they wonder why I'm not 'better' yet.

Whenever I think to myself that my life is hopeless, that I have no one to rely on or trust, I can now remind myself that I trust and depend on T, and he's there for me. I would be lost without that light in the dark.

I could have written this myself. thanks