i haven't had a session with my t since 4th december, since she went on holiday for month and then i had a breakdown, was admitted to a psych unit and have been inpatient there for 2 months.

i'm starting EMDR really soon, but my doctors have said i can't see my t while i'm doing EMDR as they don't want it to interfere. as far as i know, EMDR takes 6-8 weeks. now it's still being debated over whether i do it in hospital or at home, as i am being possibly transferred to another unit to start EMDR.

i am missing my therapist like heck. she is a huge huge part of my life and without her i would certainly be dead by now.

what am i supposed to do? i literally can't wait another 2 months till i see her. the EMDR is indefinite because i'm getting it on the NHS (UK).

ETA: forgot to say, i was sectioned under section 2 (detained under the Mental Health Act) on the 10th Feb. my section finishes on 9th March. so legally i have to stay another 18 days in hospital, unless i appeal against my section and have a tribunal.

could someone suggest what i should do pls?

[ThisWayOut]

sorry you have not been in contact with your T in so long. Can you maybe touch base with her over the phone or something? maybe talk to the dr's at the hospital about how much you miss her?
glad the hospital is helping though, and hope emdr continures that help.
I would be feeling a lot like you are I think

If you don't agree with your treatment plan you could ask an advocate to support you in challenging it? Sorry you are having a tough time.

[Raging Quiet]

This is a tough one.

I've heard it's hard to arrange and be successful in a tribunal in the UK and the Health Act has so little loop holes, unless you can prove seeing your t will help you recover as best possible compared to being inpatient.

Your t is a health worker, just like the staff in the hospital. She is part of your life, but in 10 years time and if you can reflect back, will leaving the hospital early if you are successful with the tribunal be justified just to see her for that 50 mins in a whole week? or do you think you owe yourself other help (EDMR) as a helping tool before you see her again?

Has she been in contact with you at all?

^ she was told by my doctors not to interfere. which is really annoying. i think i do owe myself EMDR, because i've waited so long for it and i really think it could help me.

it just sucks, not being able to see her. it really sucks.

[ragsnfeathers]

It sounds awful and I don't understand how depriving someone all contact with a source of emotional support is helpful.

It's not the same thing but would writing letters to your therapist with the intention of letting her read parts of them when you can see him/her again help? Or even trying to put yourself in the place of the therapist and writing a response that s/he might give you?

Hugs, Rags

thanks rags. i like the letter idea. i'm considering doing one.

[ThisWayOut]

i understand the concept of not having "duplicate services" as your therapist and the hospital may not be on the same page, but I don't think I get the complete "no contact" piece.
Even when I was in the hospital and fighting their care plan for me, I was allowed to call my T for support (no therapy over the phone, just to touch base), and she was included in the treatment team meetings as she was able. She had no affiliation with the hospital, and actually disagreed with what they were proposing, but she was kept in the loop. I was also able to contact her as a comfort measure.

Is there a reason they are excluding T from contact? I am not quite sure how the nhs does things, and I know it's very different from the US, so I am totally lost here... The only time I have ever heard of a client being told they cannot contact their T is if ethical boundaries are/were being crossed, or if the contact led to a decompensation of the client. Is this a concern with you? Or is it simply hospital/nhs policy to keep all treatments mutiutally exclusive? (if so, I wonder how that is helpful, but that's a question for a separate thread)

One thing I do sometimes find helpful to get through the times of not seeing my T but still wanting to feel connected is calling her voice mail and listening to her message. I don't let it get to the very end so I don't waste space in her box, but hearing her voice on the outgoing message is comforting. Would anything like that help you get through the next several weeks? I would run it by your team, but if just hearing her voice helps, it might be an option they are open to.

^ nope, none of that is a concern. The doctors just want me to start EMDR as soon as possible, and while i'm doing that i can't have 'conflicting support'.

i like the voicemail idea but i have no access to a phone while in hospital. the whole situation is so annoying.

[ThisWayOut]

wow, no phone?? I would have been a hot mess if I couldn;t have phone contact with theoutside world...

hope that the emdr helps... I found it helpful myself when I did it.