[DP_2017]

As the year is ending, what are some of your highlights from your therapy this past year?


For me, obviously this year therapy wise, ended badly.... BUT there was good stuff, in fact, if this had no ended as it did, I'd say 2018 was a great year.

--Going out of office to various places to work on phobia stuff

--Playing games with me in session

--My birthday session

--Reaching 100 hugs

[Anne2.0]

Discussion ad nauseum about whether I could swing retiring from a job I didn't like, and just do business. T was really superb in this role, never pushy and not overly encouraging, just able to hold onto the themes of what this meant to me, scary memory of how and what I'd talked about this that was relevant. I love having T give me back my words weeks or months or even years later, it's kind of like being published.

[LostOnTheTrail]

I never imagined I would class this as a highlight...but when I cried last month, she responded with such incredible tenderness. I think that was the moment I finally felt that I could feel safe with her, even after the three month break was handled poorly.

[Echos Myron redux]

Meeting T's ex T was pretty cool. My number one highlight though has to be the letter he wrote me when he went away. It was a very kind and thoughtful letter and I treasure it.

[piggy momma]

My biggest highlight was that I remember the day and time when my trust in my T went from about 25% to about 95%. It changed everything, radically.

[winterblues17]

Spending 2018 in therapy was amazing for me in many ways. My highlights were everyweek having a routine and set place time where I could just be there, with my T, safe and connected, regardless of what was going on in the world.

[junkDNA]

I think that as much good work was done, I spent equal or more time trying to sabotage it

[Rive1976]

Originally Posted by DP_2017

As the year is ending, what are some of your highlights from your therapy this past year?


For me, obviously this year therapy wise, ended badly.... BUT there was good stuff, in fact, if this had no ended as it did, I'd say 2018 was a great year.

--Going out of office to various places to work on phobia stuff

--Playing games with me in session

--My birthday session

--Reaching 100 hugs

Your therapist sounds awesome!

[DP_2017]

Originally Posted by Dnester

Your therapist sounds awesome!

He was. I miss him

[ChickenNoodleSoup]

- Talking about past trauma and figuring out a lot about myself.
- feeling much more connected to my T than in the first year
- getting on meds that I feel really help
- being able to look at my T more often and for longer

[stopdog]

Both of the women retired. It had nothing to do with me.

[Rive1976]

Originally Posted by ChickenNoodleSoup

- Talking about past trauma and figuring out a lot about myself.
- feeling much more connected to my T than in the first year
- getting on meds that I feel really help
- being able to look at my T more often and for longer

Why do you think its hard yo lpok at T? Im like that too.

[Merope]

Crying in front of him several times. It showed me that I actually trust him.
When he self-disclosed something embarrassing about himself to make me feel better.
When he reassured me that he'll be back (back when he went on leave for a really long time)
Getting used to the idea that I have a safe space to go to every week. Also his consistent presence and support.
The fact that he made me feel like I matter and I have a right to feel the things that I feel.

[toomanycats]

~Finally hugging current T
~Finally getting the strength to cut things off with ex-T

[MRT6211]

Well, even though my relationship with exT had to come to an end in mid July, most of my fond 2018 memories come from her:
-First and foremost, her fighting alongside me to get me back into school and defeat the narcissistic school psychiatrist who didn’t want to let me back in
-Our Lion King thing that we started and have continued in our emails after she left...I call her Mufasa and she calls me Simba Also, the school psychiatrist is Scar and he has PLENTY of hyenas...too many to name...
-Just the overall playfulness with exT
-On the flipside, that exT was intuitive enough to know when she needed to be hard on me/give me a kick in the pants

I’m trying to examine things with current T...I guess we’ve had our moments...
-She is very, very good about calling me back when I need help (but puts her foot down and won’t if I’ve already engaged in unhealthy behavior)
-I can tell she cares a lot about me, even though I’m struggling to connect with her

And my overall:
After 4 inpatient stays in 2017, I think it’s safe to say that I can celebrate NO inpatient stays in 2018!!! Woo hoo!

[SalingerEsme]

I learned to view dissociation as Persephone's name being called in the underworld so that turning around was irresistible . I am tempted and enticed by slippage of time and in time, but I can combat it now successfully with therapy tools. That is a huge accomplishment with hard work from T and from me.

I learned that I want T to to be Am Important Male Authority Figure for me to people please, and he always says no for my own good: sometimes gently, sometimes in a way that creates impasses and enactments that are painful to live through. Feeling bereft and stuck is the worst part of therapy. My T and I survived some genuine threats to our relationships in 2018, and also had some touching and healing moments of meeting. The whole of it is messy and painful, and sometimes a wondrous experience.

[Waterloo12345]

My main highlight I think has been the discovery of therapy and a therapist that works for me. It's a bit meta for your question but after 42 yrs it's like wowwwwwwwww.

I've been through CBT 2×, more like talking counselling 2x, pyschodynamic 1x and life coaching 1x with about 6 different providers over 20 yrs and they've all been bloody crap (except may be the pyschodynamic but it was not anywhere as good as now). I was at the end of the line for me. This year has been v tough mostly generated by the process of therapy but I can see green shots of sustainable recovery.

Also the discovery of cptsd as a thing, and communities like this and on reddit I can learn from and get support from came about because I was researching therapy alongside doing it.

Discovering cptsd as a framework for recovery has been mind blowing.

Originally Posted by Waterloo12345

My main highlight I think has been the discovery of therapy and a therapist that works for me. It's a bit meta for your question but after 42 yrs it's like wowwwwwwwww.

I've been through CBT 2×, more like talking counselling 2x, pyschodynamic 1x and life coaching 1x with about 6 different providers over 20 yrs and they've all been bloody crap (except may be the pyschodynamic but it was not anywhere as good as now). I was at the end of the line for me. This year has been v tough mostly generated by the process of therapy but I can see green shots of sustainable recovery.

Also the discovery of cptsd as a thing, and communities like this and on reddit I can learn from and get support from came about because I was researching therapy alongside doing it.

Discovering cptsd as a framework for recovery has been mind blowing.

Discovering CPTSD about 2 years ago definitely helped my journey in terms of framework wise. Its been an accessible and relatable structure for me.
2018- breaking up with my gf has made me more reliant on ny therapist which in a way is a good thing.
I am starting to share that I actually read up on this whole therapy stuff (slowly) and its meant we are developing a shared language.
I shared some very intimate information/documents with my T after 3 years.
I am hopeful about 2019(

[unaluna]

Looking back, i see that i terminated therapy like exactly 40 years after i had seriously re-started it in mid 1978. The previous 4 ts (3 in grad school) in the previous 3 years were just a warm-up! I like round numbers.

I watched the original Thomas Crown Affair yesterday, again. I so like the song, Windmills of Your Mind. I liked it when it came out. I love the French version. I like to think I'm cycling into another good time of my life, like in 1978. Why not?

When i suspected my t had health issues and was being way under par and i went to see other therapists and i realised my t was far more effective even when distracted than these other people. I think it has strengthened my relationship with him, made me more invested and willing to work.