[cool09]

Is support one of the keys to getting through therapy? I'm currently getting therapy for mood disorder which has greatly improved. I find if I don't have some sort of basic support on a weekly basis I can get very down on myself, lose motivation/confidence and even feel like I don't want to go on anymore (because I've lost a lot of time with my mood disorder).

[gayleggg]

Yes, I believe that support is a very important key to therapy. If left on my own my thinking gets all mixed up while having an objective person to bounce things off of really helps me stay on the right track.

[Soccer mom]

Definitely! I have two close friends and my husband who I tell about therapy. Many times they have insight that I don't which helps. And, since I have confided in them they understand when I'm really upset and why.

Do you mean support by the therapist, or support by people outside therapy?

I wish my T knew that support is part of therapy (as opposed to back stabbing his client). Yes support would have been nice.

yes I think support is absolutely vital, both from the therapist and friends/family.

Well, none of us can say what is necessary for anybody else who is in therapy. My personal take on it is that support from the T is nice when it is available, but it almost never is so it cannot be allowed to be too important, and support from others is a fictitious concept.

Other people's experiences are very different from mine, and probably more representative.

[WrkNPrgress]

Absolutely.
I was thinking about this the other day. The fact is, no ONE person can be everything to you. Not your therapist, not your closest friend or partner. Every human being is fallible. That is why we need a community, even if it's only two or three people, and why we need to trust and learn to support ourselves.

I believe that support is a necessary component of life in general, for anyone. I've always considered better emotional connections and real-world support one of my goals of therapy.

One thing therapy is helping me with is to appreciate supports that I do have as well as make, reestablish, and solidify new connections in my everyday life. I am learning to lean on friends when I need to talk. I am learning to communicate better with my friends and family and even 'teach' them how I need support.

I am also learning how I can support myself.

[unaluna]

I seem to be doing better WITHOUT my "supports". It would just turn into long arguments about why i should be doing something differently (like seeing my mother), and them hinting there is something untoward about my relationship with my t. There is nothing untoward. It is completely toward! I feel very lucky to have him.

[WrkNPrgress]

Originally Posted by hankster

I seem to be doing better WITHOUT my "supports". It would just turn into long arguments about why i should be doing something differently (like seeing my mother), and them hinting there is something untoward about my relationship with my t. There is nothing untoward. It is completely toward! I feel very lucky to have him.

Yes, it does matter who you have around you and how they help or hinder. It is also important to find your boundaries and remove elements from your life that are downers (Or outright destructive) if possible. I wouldn't consider anyone one un-helpful a 'support' though.

At times my family can be more depressing than helpful but I am learning not to internalize that stuff and appreciate what they can offer, even if it's limited.

Originally Posted by WrkNPrgress

I believe that support is a necessary component of life in general, for anyone.

"for anyone"??