[PTSDlovemycats]

So I saw my T the other day and near the opening of the session she already knew that I am on holidays she asked if I had figured anything out. I didn't know that I was supposed to. So I said "No, I didn't know if I was supposed to figure anything out." She said "Ofcourse you are, you know that it is not just limited to the work that we do in the office, I know you know that." And I said but I am on Holidays right now for 2 weeks. Her response. "Heh, well I don't recall granting you 2 weeks worth of therapy holidays." Real nice T, Thanks for that one! I said well then can I please? and she laughed and no "NO WAY!!" You are going to have to come up with a lot of stuff on your own and you are going to need to finish your homework that I give you instead of avoiding it like you try to avoid so much of it." I made the mistake of saying "Well you take holidays...." And she said "You're DAMN right I take holdays i work pretty damn hard in here Cats and I did what you are doing right now sitting on a couch with my own T for several years before I could do this and I figured atuff out with the help of my T. So no, my holidays are different than your holidys. Your holidays mean you don't go to work, but you still see me twice a week and you WILL do your homework and try to figure stuff out. Kapeesh?"
Jesus, all I want is a little bit of this and a whole lotta this
Anyone have any similar experieces?? Or random comments are always welcome too for excitement, Lol.

[peridot28]

I just wanted to say how much I love your post. I've never had this experience, as I'm self-employed and work from home and never have a vacation.

[PTSDlovemycats]

Thanks Peridot. What do you love about the post? I am not actually going anywhere just staying home but i was under the impression I get a break from therapy in between sessions. OBVIOUSLY I was wrong on this! I want a holiday from therapy between my appointments!! Apparently I am starting a protest as I am getting T AKA going -sighs- So much for and It's starting to look more like this now. Damn u T!!

I'm just guessing here, but my take on it was that your therapist was letting you know that when you're in therapy that's what you need to be doing---whether you're actually in a session or you're preparing for the session In the past, I have taken a "holiday" from therapy during my work holiday. In other words, I've had a week off and told my therapist I wasn't going anywhere for my vacation but I wanted a week off from the hard work I was doing in therapy. I wanted to do exactly what you said, "veg out and sleep late." No homework! No obsessive thinking about therapy! No pre appointment anxiety! She was very receptive to this and we set up my next appointment for a week later. It's also a good way to use your own coping skills and foster independence. I knew my therapist was a phone call away if things went south.

[PTSDlovemycats]

Thanks Jaybird!! I should have thought about that!! I still have another week of holidays...maybe I will call her and tell her that I need a week of COMPLETE therapy holidays meaning that I would cancel both of my sessions next week, I don't know if it will work or not but it is worth a try! Thanks so much again!!

[WePow]

It depends on your goals for therapy. For example, last year I had to take disability from work. I needed to be away from work but I didn't need to be away from therapy. Even this year being back to work, I have taken off a few days in order to do MORE work in therapy.

BUT this June I am going to take off work AND be off therapy. Of course my T is going to be out of town at the same time - so that works out.

What I am trying to say is that it all depends on your goals and reasoning. When you are in session 2x week, there is usually an immediate reason for this. If that is the case, then you do need to do what your T asks you to do between sessions. That is the time when you are to focus on YOU and your healing. It is very hard work. But you will gain from it. If it is too much right now and you want a break from it, then go on holiday and just tell T "I am going to be out all next week"

[PTSDlovemycats]

Originally Posted by WePow

It depends on your goals for therapy. For example, last year I had to take disability from work. I needed to be away from work but I didn't need to be away from therapy. Even this year being back to work, I have taken off a few days in order to do MORE work in therapy.

BUT this June I am going to take off work AND be off therapy. Of course my T is going to be out of town at the same time - so that works out.

What I am trying to say is that it all depends on your goals and reasoning. When you are in session 2x week, there is usually an immediate reason for this. If that is the case, then you do need to do what your T asks you to do between sessions. That is the time when you are to focus on YOU and your healing. It is very hard work. But you will gain from it. If it is too much right now and you want a break from it, then go on holiday and just tell T "I am going to be out all next week"

Oh WePow, why do you have to be so wise all the time?? I first started seeing her once a month years ago, then it was increased to every 2 weeks. Then she increased it to every week, and now I am at twice a week. She changed that after she hospitalized me a few years ago and hasn't brought it back down to once a week for some reason, Mnd you I haven't asked her about that either...

[WePow]

LOL - Me wise? NOT! :-) Just sharing what I think.
Sometimes the client needs to be the one in charge of things. If YOU feel like you need only 1x week now, that should be something to bring up with T. Only you can know how you are feeling at this point and what you need. If your T says 2x is still needed, find out exactly why and what the long term treatment plan involves.

((((((((PTSD))))))))))

I don't think I could DO therapy without being "allowed" to take a break!

I am super attached to T, so I've never taken a "break" by missing sessions (until now). But there have been times when I've just needed to go and connect without having to work so hard, and times when I've just needed space between sessions to BE, and to not have to be processing and thinking and working all the time.

T trusts me to know when I need a break. I even take mini-breaks in the middle of sessions, by putting my head down and closing my eyes and letting myself drift away.

I think that allowing yourself to take a break when you need it is good self-care. Sometimes we just need time to catch our breath, and it's okay.

[with or without you]

Your T sounds like a real ball-buster!

[skeksi]

I am not actually going anywhere just staying home but i was under the impression I get a break from therapy in between sessions.

I think therapy is more than just the 50 minutes I spend with my therapist. I sincerely try to invest some real time into thinking/writing/otherwise expressing my feelings and thoughts about what we've discussed each week, and that work takes me to what I want to bring into the next session. If I want a vacation from therapy, I take a week off and skip a session.

Of course, there are some weeks I avoid thinking about any of it--and those weeks, I admit, make for less useful sessions. But it is up to me--it's my choice whether I do the work between sessions. My therapist will be there no matter what, but as he's said to me repeatedly, it's entirely up to me whether I make progress. So there's nothing wrong with taking an easy week--as long as I get back into the fray the next week.

[sunrise]

When I was in regular therapy (once a week), I found it hard to take a break between sessions. I didn't have assigned homework like you do, PTSDCats, but my brain continued to process what we were doing in therapy. My brain wouldn't let me take a break even if I wanted to. A big part of the work of therapy for me was in processing. If I had somehow been able to turn that off and reserved only the 50 minutes of therapy for the time I actually did "work", then I would have made extremely slow progress.

On the other hand, as treehouse said, she knows when she needs a break and she takes it, even if it is during the session. If you really need a break, then take it. With my first therapist, I got too too stressed out with my life and couldn't keep working on it in session, especially when it was doing no good, so I took a break of several months just to escape temporarily from all the pressure and stress. It did me a world of good.

I agree with WePow that if you want to go to therapy once per week now instead of twice, then talk to your T about that. He may not know you only want to go once. Or if he thinks you should still go twice, then he can tell you why.

[Omers]

I could so see my T saying that!
But it has taken me three years of working with her to not obsess about therapy in between sessions!
Better not let my T see this thread! She'll laugh and then up my homework!

Originally Posted by sunrise

my brain continued to process what we were doing in therapy. My brain wouldn't let me take a break even if I wanted to. A big part of the work of therapy for me was in processing. If I had somehow been able to turn that off and reserved only the 50 minutes of therapy for the time I actually did "work", then I would have made extremely slow progress.

Yep. And THIS is why I think it's so important to take a break when we need to/can. Because it DOES take so much work between sessions, and there is so much processing that goes on. For me, it gets overwhelming, and it's hard to just "turn it off".

That's why T and I have consciously made a choice during certain times to keep it "light". I still see him, we still connect, and we work on things that are "easier", and it gives my brain a chance to take a break between sessions for a change.

Therapy is SUCH hard work.

[learning1]

I'm like Rainbow and Sunrise, I can't help thinking about therapy between sessions, and it can become obsessive thinking to the point I need to rest.

But I know other people don't have that tendency to be introspective and don't think about therapy much at all when they're not in session. It doesn't work if you don't figure out how the things you talk about in session are relevant to what you do all the time outside of session. It takes a lot of paying attention to your feelings and thinking about them to understand them to the point that you actually FEEL like doing whatever you need to do differently. Good luck with it PTSD!

[PTSDlovemycats]

Originally Posted by with or without you

Your T sounds like a real ball-buster!

LOL, She is but I love her anyway.