[Ad Intra]

My T is doing this with me and frankly, I'm scared.

Ive never heard the term. Can you tell me?

[stopdog]

I have no idea what that means.

[atisketatasket]

I think this is it described here.

I haven't been asked to do one but I'm unclear on how it differs from just talking about a trauma in therapy, which I have done. Is it more formal?

[Argonautomobile]

I don't know that it does differ from just talking about trauma, necessarily, except that for some people this conversation(s) will be the first time that they form a coherent story--one with a beginning, middle, end, with events considered in their proper context, memories placed on a timeline, with some sort of order coming out of a confusing and frightening mish-mash of disembodied emotion and gauzy half-memory.

Sounds like a hell of a task. Not something I've done personally. Hope it works out.

[Nammu]

Took me years. I did bits with different Ts until my last one, with her I was able to piece it all together. Make sure you go at your own pace.

[naia]

Dealing with trauma has to include a narrative, to put the pieces back together so that there is a more coherent story. Our brains disconnect parts of trauma, often not able to pull it together into words. Trying to put words and a timeline is part of any way of dealing with trauma.

Some T's feel that they are bearing witness to the trauma so hearing the story is part of creating a place where you are not alone especially if you actually were alone during whatever happened.

Others are more forceful, wanting every detail, like in exposure therapy. I feel that is too much, re-traumatizing, not helpful.

I have told my story many different times, in different ways. I have been able to overcome severe complex trauma to an extent through trying to put the traumatic events into a story.

At other times, I use art or non-verbal ways to get to the emotions. It is still a story, just not with words. Depends on how you are as a person, whether you are verbal or visual, internal or external, what the trauma was, how your T is, and so on.

There is no one way, but narrative is part of almost all therapies, except the ones that focus on skills or training or something else. I don't do those, don't find that is right for me or my T.

I do a lot of my own personal work, like writing in a journal or writing down dreams. These things are private; I don't share them, even in therapy. I may say something about what I'm doing but not say the whole thing.

Therapy is about you, what you need, what you have gone through. I don't think that it's right for a T to tell us what to do or pretend they experts. We pay them to help us. In the best case, they follow us not the other way around.

[unaluna]

Originally Posted by atisketatasket

I think this is it described here.

I haven't been asked to do one but I'm unclear on how it differs from just talking about a trauma in therapy, which I have done. Is it more formal?

This is a good description. I think your narrative is done when you dont feel stuck anymore? Or whatever your symptom was / is. I used to think stuff like, why dont i have a nice place to live like everyone else? Why didnt i make a good marriage when i was younger like everyone else? Why was i always underemployed? Why did i always seem to self-sabotage? Now i feel like i have answers. I remember telling t at the beginning of our work together that i never had anyone to support me - i didnt mean financially, but i didnt know that what i did mean was attachment. It wasnt anything he pushed on me. It was something i googled for myself.

It wasnt formal for me, but i do always take stock every new year to look back and plan ahead, even if i never do accomplish the goals, i do make SOME headway. There is a big difference between me today and me 2007.