[stopdog]

Do you do research on how therapy is supposed to work or how to do it or how those guys operate and what they are trying to do to clients?

[JaneTennison1]

I did but I find that I've now found my own groove.

Not before I started, but I do now. I have been reading blogs written by therapists lately. It's just interesting to read their thoughts and perspectives.

No, not before and don't plan to now either. I didn't actually know I was going into therapy when I first started therapy; it just sort of happened rather suddenly. I haven't found the need to research how it is supposed to work because it has apparently worked effectively for me over the years. When it didn't feel it would be effective, I quickly found a therapist that I felt better about.

I was much more interested in researching and learning about my own personal issues and diagnoses of PTSD and bipolar disorder. That is what was more interesting and helpful to me personally.

[Nammu]

My choices have always been severely restricted by my need to find one who uses ASL and now even more restrictive because of insurance. It's the reason I don't have a T currently. My very first T was recommended by the ER. He signed and was well versed in PTSD and abuse. But that was pretty much luck.

[justdesserts]

I have a Master's Degree in Counseling and have had five different therapists in the time since I got my degree and each has had different strengths and weaknesses. It is only with this most recent therapist that I feel like I am making any substantial, sustainable progress and have really learned what therapy CAN be. All the other times felt artificial in reflection. I have recorded 1000s of hours as a practicing therapist myself, so I certainly had studied therapy, but certainly not enough. I am reading "Shouldn't I be feeling better by now?" and it's been enlightening to hear from those who have been hurt and who are trying to change the system.

[UnderRugSwept]

No. I started going to therapy when I was 7 years old, for one thing. I did start reading books about psychology about 5 years ago, because I am interested in the subject. But I am really only interested in how my therapy works. I do not hesitate to tell either of my Ts if I think they are wrong, and I ask a lot of questions, which both of my Ts have been willing to answer.

[ThisWayOut]

I put "other" because I have degrees in psych and social work (though am not licensed, nor do I practice). I keep up with research and "best practices" in the fields with the expectation that I will some day get back into the profession. I started therapy at the same time I was in school, though I knew some basics from prior research (when I was deciding what I wanted to do with my life).

[brillskep]

Yes, but in my case I've been doing this since before starting my own therapy for academic and now professional reasons. If I didn't work in the field, I might be interested mostly in other people's experiences with it, and I suppose this would naturally lead to some knowledge of therapy. But my therapist tells me about his thought process about me and therapy anyway.

[guilloche]

Hm. I voted "Other". I don't remember researching therapy the first time I tried it (about 15 years ago, or so). But, I had had a TON of psychology classes in school. Not therapy classes, but psychology (I basically minored in psych).

Now though, yup, I do read a TON about therapy - how to get the most out of it, what to expect, how to find a good therapist, how to work with your therapist, what's supposed to happen, and blogs by therapists. I can't seem to stop myself. And it hasn't really helped at all either!

I just wish I knew how to make it useful. Stopdog, you've said so often, "I found a way to make it useful" - I'm stuck at that place where I really want it to be useful, but so far, it doesn't seem like it. And, it's too expensive to not be useful, so if I can't make it useful soon, I really need to quit. But I don't want to quit, I want to get my stuff figured out and make my life better, and I don't know how else to approach that, if not through therapy.

I think the biggest problem is, I like the *idea* of therapy. I like the idea of someone caring about me, listening to me without judgement, supporting me, empathizing, and guiding me to improve my brain/emotional life.

But, the reality hasn't panned out. Instead of non-judgementalness, I've had a previous therapist tell me, "nothing you've said sounds holocaustal". The current one told me that my stress around a work trip sounds like a kid who doesn't want to do their homework. I want a therapist who is smart and can see patterns and explain things, I want one who can explain what's going on in my crazy head to me! But none of them seem to understand me well enough to do that. I ask my therapist if he's figured out which box of crazy I fit in yet... no response!

I voted that I read books on therapy before and still do. Okay, I'm going to date myself Back in the mid-70's I entered nursing school and fell in love with psychology and psychological nursing. I read voraciously! I worked as a psychiatric nurse for five years and then went back to school and got another undergrad and graduate degree in psychology.

I have never stopped reading, attending seminars, free lectures, or simple informational sessions on psychology and therapy. I currently write fiction in the suspense/psychological thriller genre and because I want my plots to stay fresh and chilling, I still read psychology/psychotherapy books. But I also read them to help me understand what's going on in my own therapy and to keep me up on how things are changing or NOT changing in the field. I feel that staying abreast of things helps to keep me knowledgeable and aware of how things are progressing. I do the same thing when it comes to making medical decisions about my physical health. I don't sit and do everything my primary physician recommends. I read up on things and I research what is being recommended. I'm no push-over

I studied quite a bit of psychology long before starting therapy. I haven't read any books about how therapy works since starting, I feel that I have a sense of how it is supposed to help. I've learnt a huge amount about therapy from this board. I can't imagine that the stuff I've learnt about therapy on here is written down in books.

[Coco3]

Originally Posted by puzzle_bug1987

Not before I started, but I do now. I have been reading blogs written by therapists lately. It's just interesting to read their thoughts and perspectives.

I find that very interesting too! What blogs do you recommend? I only know this one: what a shrink thinks.

[laxer12]

I was a psychology major in undergrad and during that time I didn't really realize it but the reason I found it interesting was that it helped me figure out myself better. I currently do not have a job related to psychology at all and I've started reading a lot of psych books and reading articles online to help me get a better sense of my therapy and how it works. Right now I'm reading a couple of books and it's really interesting to me because they all talk about very similar things that I talk about with my T every week. Not that I didn't trust her or think she was credible before I started reading this stuff, but it really helps me trust her more now that I read the exact same stuff that she says all the time. If multiple people are writing the same thing, it must be useful stuff.

[stopdog]

I am now thinking about another poll off of this one - did you start reading/do you now read to understand yourself or to understand what those therapy guys are supposed to be trying to do and how they do it.

Also surprising to me is how many people took psychology. I hated it in college - the two/three I had to take. I also hate the ones I go to now to figure out what these guys are doing - it is interesting to me to find out how they are taught - but in general - uck.

[feralkittymom]

I never read before therapy, and didn't read too much during therapy. My academic work had nothing to do with psychology. When I was having difficulty with a group I was in, I started reading to figure out what was going wrong. And that was very helpful and helped me decide to leave the group. But my T was always pretty transparent about things, so I never felt the need to read to figure out my own therapy. And I found that I got what I needed from the therapy relationship, so I could see it helping in my life and didn't need any further verification.

Since therapy, I read a lot of psych research, partly out of interest in the field, and partly because some of my academic research uses object relations theories.

[Gavinandnikki]

Not before I started, but I read everything I could get my hands on after I started psychoanalysis. Easily over 100 books.

I found it very interesting, but not particularly helpful in my own therapy.

I love reading psychology/psychotherapy books, both theory and procedural manuals. It's been a long term love affair. I don't think that I read them any longer to understand what's going on in my own therapy . . .although every once in a while, a new one comes out and I get it. . . . and then I'm disappointed that doesn't really reveal anything different.

I will say, however, stopdog, that I did take three first year law courses at NYU many many moons ago . . . And can I say, with all honesty, "Gag me!" I was bored to tears (Contracts, Procedure and one on Torts). Maybe if I'd stuck around for Criminal Law I might have been more excited about taking a few more. I think I like the fact that psychology isn't logical or scientific. It's about broad ideas and thoughts, ideas that can take wing and expand--not saying that that makes those ideas or thoughts right or written in stone but I like the fact that it isn't cut and dry and totally transparent. Guess that's the direction my mind goes, and that's why the wide range of thoughts and ideas on this forum is so interesting. We all think differently and are attracted to many wide range of things. It makes for great conversation and discussion as we all try to understand each others focus or interest.

[stopdog]

I only care about knowing about it in a sort of self defense sort of way and in a how to protect my clients from being trapped by those guys against their wills. I don't want those guys doing stuff at me that I don't know about. And I want to know how to better represent my client against the mental health machine when the client objects to what is being done to them.

Law school can be boring. Contracts and civil procedure certainly. Torts though can be fun - people getting injured in non- criminal action ways. The lighted squib case is a favorite as well as Cordas v. Peerless transportation - which is one of my (and is oft used for examples - it is a case that is included in most torts textbooks) tort favorite cases to read for fun. Text of the case can be read at:
http://www.duhaime.org/LawFun/LawArt...From-Hell.aspx

A paragraph from the case:
"The hold-up man sensing his insecurity suggested to the chauffeur that in the event there was the slightest lapse in obedience to his curt command that he, the chauffeur, would suffer the loss of his brains, a prospect as horrible to an humble chauffeur as it undoubtedly would be to one of the intelligentsia. The chauffeur apprehensive of certain dissolution from either Scylla, the pursuers, or Charybdis, the pursued, quickly threw his car out of first speed in which he was proceeding, pulled on the emergency, jammed on his brakes and, although he thinks the motor was still running, swung open the door to his left and jumped out of his car."
Cordas v. Peerless Transportation, 27 N.Y.S.2d 198, 199 (N.Y. City Ct. 1941)

[Restin]

Yes, I read on-line and buy therapy books, not just pop-psychology, because I have transference issues and have been horribly burned by some therapists that were ignorant about, or severe toward transference problems. I know now that my T and I are on the same page (or at least in the same book) in therapy, and I'm very hopeful that I will become fully well this time without it being a nightmare experience.

[JustShakey]

I didn't read anything before I started but after having a very bad reaction in my very first session I started reading to try and figure out what had happened. I read nonstop, everything I could get my hands on - blogs, articles, popular psych books, textbook previews on Google books, whatever second hand textbooks I could afford, for maybe the first 6-8 months I was in therapy, until I started to be able to wrap my mind around that particular transference nightmare. I still read a little from time to time, but I don't feel that pressing need anymore. Like Jaybird I have read enough to understand what's happening with me. Now I just need to turn understanding into reality, and you can't do that with a book.

[stopdog]

Their textbooks and seeing two of them and taking graduate classes at my university, and talking to a few who supervise those ones still having to be supervised, and talking to some retired ones has helped me better recognize techniques the woman tries to use at me and gives me some explanation(s) of what she is trying to do at me. I still don't get why she won't just explain - we both know I will find out. I am not just going to let her do stuff at me that I don't understand or agree with or go along with it if I don't have a reason as to what it is supposed to accomplish.

[KayDubs]

Choice 3: I never had done research on therapy in the past or prior to starting with this current T, but have done so since working with this T. I googled some of the reactions I was having to therapy and came across some basic information, but wanted to know more. I have access to a local university's library system, so I read a few dozen articles on PsycInfo on the reactions that were concerning to me. It actually helped me trust therapy even more, knowing that what I was experiencing has happened to other people in therapy. I decided that if I chose to continue in therapy and put effort into the relationship and understanding myself and why I behaved certain ways, I'd see benefits. For the most part, this has been true for me. Just my experience. ETA: I was pretty into researching for several months, but that's died down quite a bit since the new year.

[Lauliza]

I've always been more interested in the diagnoses and treatments available that have been found effective. So therapy interests me and I like to study techniques of therapy by observing people's styles and approaches on an interpersonal level. I don't really understand what you mean by trying to figure out what they're trying to do. In general don't think they're trying to do anything to us. I think most want to work with us and help to the best of their ability.

I did but I found that there is always a positive and negative side written about and this is based on the authors own experience in therapy. So now I prefer to do my own research and experience my own therapy before reading about somebody else's experience.