I am starting with a new therapist soon and I have a bit of an issue coming up. I am a fully capable adult who drives my own car, but my previous therapist it got to the point where my therapy sessions became so intense and I became so dissociative that I could no longer drive myself. Well it wasn't 8 weeks later that she dropped me as a client because I wasn't performing well for her? I guess? I don't know. She wasn't the most professional piece of work.

So this new therapist, my current caseworker, who is about to switch is saying that I will be too dissociative to drive. And I point blank told her that if I'm that dissociative after my appts, something is wrong. Am I right?

I mean this isn't normal dissociation, this is continual switching, self harming, it seems she didn't know how to ties things into a neat bow and send me out. She just unwrapped everything and left paper laying around.

I mean do you guys drive yourselves? Or is it too messy?

[junkDNA]

yes, i drive. but it's literally like, not a minute away.

weird, i know!

sometimes he (my T) takes my keys though and finds me a ride.

[peridot28]

I drive myself to and from appointments, but there was a time where I was in such distress towards the end of my sessions that she would keep me as long as she felt she needed to be sure I was safe and okay.

She told me that therapists need to be aware that when they open up a client's wounds and dig around and bring up pain that they need to be able to put their clients back together again before the client leaves their offices. So, from that, my therapist has always checked in with me to see how I've felt before I leave, even if it hasn't been a tough session.

[CantExplain]

Originally Posted by LydiaB

I mean do you guys drive yourselves? Or is it too messy?

I drive myself, yes. It's cleansing.

But I don't dissociate.

[KazzaX]

I catch the train. I wouldnt trust myself to drive after a Therapy session.... too many targets on the road!!

[scorpiosis37]

I drive myself; I'm almost always going to or from work. Personally, I enjoy driving. It's a good time for me to think and relax. But I've also never dissociated or left therapy feeling distraught.

[LotusBloom]

I drive myself...it gives me time to get back into work mode (usually go to t session during my lunch hour).

[BlessedRhiannon]

I drive myself. If I'm not present enough at the end of a session to be behind the wheel, I will sit in my car with the radio going and spend some time calming down, and getting to a point where I can drive.

There have been sessions where my T has asked me at the end if I'm okay to drive. I have told her "not at the moment, but I promise not to leave the parking lot until I am ok." Usually, though, my T is very good at wrapping things up enough that I don't leave in distress.

My T has offered to let me sit in another room if I need some time to recover, but that feels uncomfortable to me...I'd rather just sit in my car.

[eskielover]

I don't dissociate......so never thought driving was a problem.....however, I lived over 1 hour away from where my psychologist office was.....one time about 6 months after I had neck fusion, I had an intense session....most was just me talking....but I remember feeling very upset that day.....I got int' my car.....was driving most of the way home. I even had my littlest eskie in the car with me. For some reason, I ended up dozing off I guess. By that point, I was in the upper desert area of my drive & there was a large dirt center divider between the 2 sides of the freeway. I woke up with my car almost on the other of the freeway in the dirt divider filled with sage brush & tumble weeds & junipers. I couldn't get my car started (it was a stick shift). I was dazed, picked up Celia, I crossed over the 2 lanes of the other side of the freeway & walked to the call box along the freeway which California has for emergencies like this (before cell phone).

Because I was so dazed I ended up calling the fire department instead of the highway patrol....maybe it was a good thing. Soon there was a firetruck with all the men on it that drove up to where I was.....asked where the fire was.....I told them about falling alseep & that my car was in the center divider. They ended up taking me back to the fire station & had me lay down for awhile....they were concerned about the neck fusion I had just had. I layed down & was so dizzy that they decided to call the paramedics & have them take me to the hospital that was close to my house. Unfortunately, ambulances can't transport animals so one of the firemen got in their truck & followed the ambulance to the hospital with Celia.....who came into the ER until my daughter arrived. Everything was ok......but it was after that I changed my appointments to Sunday afternoons so that my H could drive me that long distance. I realized just how much the stress from the sessions & what I was dealing with caused.....& that my escape from stress at the time was to fall asleep.

If driving was that dangerous for me who doesn't dissociate....I can understand how it's dangerous for you

[tooski]

I drive myself, but I don't dissociate, at least not that i know of. I may be a little spacey or foggy or emotional after a session, but not to the extent that I'm not safe behind the wheel. If that happened, I think I'd sit in the parking lot until I felt better.

I don't have a licence and in any case would take the bus, given where T's office is located. But I can definitely see how it could be dangerous to drive after an intense session.

[CantExplain]

Originally Posted by BlessedRhiannon

I drive myself. If I'm not present enough at the end of a session to be behind the wheel, I will sit in my car with the radio going and spend some time calming down, and getting to a point where I can drive.

I've seen one of T's other patients do this.

[sugahorse1]

I have often dissociated or left T with such gaping wounds that I was actually endangering myself by driving myself. But that's what I've always done and so far I've been ok

[sconnie892]

I drive to and from sessions often because I am coming from work. I've only had one session where I left very upset and drove home in the dark with only my running lights. I drive 25 minutes through the countryside to get home. It scared me enough to know that if I can't drive I should just sit in the parking lot for awhile. But in general, my t does a good job of wrapping up at the end of session so I am not left with the emotions unpacked when I leave.

On the occasion that I've been dissociated or really distressed at the end of a session, by T's have always found me a spot to just sit for awhile until I felt safe to drive. That's generally all I needed and after a bit I was fine to drive myself home. But if gaining that kind of control isn't possible for you after a session, then your t is probably right in saying you shouldn't be driving.

[trdleblue]

I walk or take the bus. I don't think I would want to drive even if it was farther away.

[Focus62]

I walk, but that is simply because it's on campus, only a few blocks from my apartment. I do dissociate, but I'm usually able to be reigned in enough by the end that I will have my wits about me and if I don't, I would go and sit in the university center till I do...but that hasn't happened yet. I don't dissociate often, and it's usually very mild when I do.

When you drive distracted, dissociated, or whatever you're not only endangering yourself but other people. Please do not drive like that. If you're that upset spend a few minutes getting yourself grounded before you drive. Please.

[mixedup_emotions]

I drive myself, and I find that typically it's a good way to have time to transition back to 'real life'. When I have a difficult session including dissociation, we work on some grounding methods before the end of the session so that I don't leave in a certain state. When I'm still struggling, I then spend a few minutes in the car using other methods to ground myself before driving.

[SilverGlitter]

I drive myself to and from my appointments. Sometimes, I have to sit in my car for a while until I am calm and in control enough to drive safely. But my t is usually pretty good at making sure I'm okay enough to leave. And if I'm not, she gets me to a place where I am okay.

On some occasions, one in particular, where I was still crying really hard at the end of the session but she had another client to see and had already delayed them by 10 minutes because she needed to stay with me, she offered to have another t come in and sit with me until I was okay. But I didn't want to, I don't want to talk to anyone else or have anyone else see me cry except my t. So she checked the bathroom was empty, and then took me there herself so that I could have some time alone to calm down. So normally, if I'm not okay, she makes sure I'm somewhere where I can gather myself together. And once I calm down (sometimes I sit in the bathroom for an hour), I'm fine to drive home.

As far as I'm aware, a good t should be able to wrap things up at the end of the session so that you feel okay and relatively safe. Obviously, this may not be possible every single time, but in my experience, a good t can manage that most of the time.