[purplejell]

I had a really intense session with my therapist this week and we were really deep into some childhood stuff. I realized we were 15 minutes overtime (sometimes she lets me go overtime), and basically rushed myself out the door because I felt guilty for taking so long. I was totally dissociated when I left and not very safe. It also makes things worse for me with the emotions after if I don't close down enough. I'm just wondering if anyone has suggestions for how you end your session, and come back to the present? Rituals, things to talk about, etc. Ending too fast is almost like being a diver getting "the bends" from coming up too quickly. Yet it takes time for me to open up, so it's hard to fit it all in.

[FeelTheBurn]

I've asked my T, overtime or not, to plan for a few minutes at the end to ground myself before I go out into the world again. Like you said, it's just not safe to hop in the car and go floating off when you're still feeling rough.

A few minutes before we end, she will gently check in and ask me how I'm feeling, and will usually run me through a quick somatic grounding--deep slow breaths, feeling my body in the chair, connecting to the floor with my feet, etc. That usually helps bring me into myself so I'm good to leave. Maybe you can ask your T to be in charge of the clock (her job) and plan for those few minutes to make sure you're safe before you go.

[wotchermuggle]

Originally Posted by purplejell

I had a really intense session with my therapist this week and we were really deep into some childhood stuff. I realized we were 15 minutes overtime (sometimes she lets me go overtime), and basically rushed myself out the door because I felt guilty for taking so long. I was totally dissociated when I left and not very safe. It also makes things worse for me with the emotions after if I don't close down enough. I'm just wondering if anyone has suggestions for how you end your session, and come back to the present? Rituals, things to talk about, etc. Ending too fast is almost like being a diver getting "the bends" from coming up too quickly. Yet it takes time for me to open up, so it's hard to fit it all in.

Your T should be responsible for looking after the time in your sessions.

[stopdog]

Neither of the ones I see do anything. I keep track of the time, but they have never tried to wind down or anything.

[BonnieJean]

I had to ask mine to help me wind down at the end. I went at least two years of sometimes leaving in horrible or dangerous states from the work we were doing. It wasn't until I read a post on here once about a t helping someone reground at the end of a session that I thought to ask my t. I think that's pretty bad because she's been a t for 30 years and it was irresponsible to let me go in the states I was in. She's a bit more sensitive to it now. Otherwise she's been a good t

[Hope-Full]

My T is the one responsible for the clock watching, which helps me a lot. I had a T who had a clock facing me and it drove me nuts because I would keep focused on how much time I had left and not allow myself to really get into anything!

My T always says "we have a few minutes left" or "it's almost time to wrap up for today" which is helpful. Either she or I will often bring up a more mundane topic, like tv or books, and then we check the schedule before I head out. It's helpful to take those two minutes to get back to the moment. I then usually take a few minutes in my car reflecting/journaling before I drive home.

[ECHOES]

I didn't know it at the time, but I used food. I would go right from therapy to the store, or convenient market, to buy something yummy. I think that was my way of having something 'here and now' to focus on.