long-term therapy

Is there anyone here who has been in long-term
therapy, say 20+ years?

Yes. My current T and I talked about this last week, and I am very much OK with my therapy journey. I had extensive abuse in my past, and serious health issues in my family and for myself over the years, including a child (now an adult) who nearly died when he was a week old and has had more than 30 brain surgeries thus far. Lots of other stressors, too, any of which would have been a reason to seek therapy. I have been blessed to have therapists who gave me credit for my determination and persistence to heal. The reason I give these details is because I feel that sometimes others tend to criticize me when they don't know the whole story, so I am hoping to nip those kinds of posts in the bud, so to speak.

I saw on your profile that you have been in therapy a very long time. Did you ask about this to see if others here could relate? Just curious, and interested in getting to know you better.

Yes, I am interested in talking to others who, like me, have been in therapy for 20 years or longer. Also interested in lending support to others.

I've seen 5 different Ts, and the total number of years is about 18 or 19. I find it hard to do without a T in my life, due to attachment problems. I've learned different things from each T even though my issues are basically the same. My T's orientations have been different, so I'm not repeating anything.

Have you been seeing the same T for all those years, or different ones? Some people need to be in long-term therapy and there is nothing wrong with that.

Yes, I have had the same T the whole time. I actually started seeing her in 1989, and then until about 2001, when i felt "done." I went back in 2002, and have been going ever since.

WOW that must be something, I could never see myself seeing the same Therapist for that long.

If you feel you benefit from continuing the process, then it seems all good. Who cares about the number of years? Being with the same T over a long therapy can be extremely beneficial as both grow over time in the relationship, and there's a lot to learn through that experience of longevity. I was with my T for @ 11 years, and we've continued a post-therapy connection--so all together @ 30 years--and we've both grown by the experience of maintaining the relationship through all sorts of changes in our lives.

I can never see myself with a different T. My psychiatrist is retiring soon, and that's hard enough.

You just have to be really lucky because Therapist's are moving to other places all of the time.

When you have a great therapist, it's a wonderful gift to have that long-term relationship. (If it ain't broke, don't fix it!) I started posting here in November last year because my therapist of 13 years became seriously ill and unable to continue his practice. When I saw him for a brief closure session along with my current T, the first thing I said to him was, "You're fired. I knew you would never quit on me, so I figured I had to fire you." We had that kind of affectionate teasing as part of our relationship. I miss him very much, but I am starting to feel less raw from the grief.

I just counted the number of therapists I've had, and it totals 11. Some were very short-term, because they weren't the right fit. I also took a few breaks over the years, although not for long, because my PTSD and depression became too overwhelming rather quickly.

But you have to be sort of lucky to have the Therapist at the same practice for that long of a time, I stop seeing a Therapist after 4 years because of a change in my insurance but as I found out later I would have had to end things with her a few months later anyways because she left the practice.

I am sending you hugs every chance I get, because I read your post about the new T not giving hugs.

((((((((((((((((((((RTerroni))))))))))))))))))))