Couch 252: Kitties and Hawks

RIP Hotlips (Loretta Swit). She was so funny in that role. I quit watching after McLain Stevenson left - I never could abide Col Potter (and he had played a crazy general earlier in the same show) or the BJ Hunicutt/charles characters.

Yes, she almost outshone the movie Hotlips.

5 more days of work before I’m off for 9 days straight. Ahhhh.

Who else is tired of hearing about the TV couple getting pardoned? Their faces are at every turn. I’m over them. lol

I hate them so much. Nothing means anything anymore.

Exactly.

Apparently, party affiliation does.

Have any of you ever had to sign a treatment plan *before* the first therapy session? A friend was asked to do so and balked at “you agree to the goals outlined by your therapist” before even speaking to the provider.

I certainly wouldn’t sign that, and I’ve never encountered it myself..

Yes, party affiliation and/or having enough money (or your family having enough money) that you can buy off people in power. I forget who, but someone recently got pardoned because their mother paid to attend a million-dollar-a-plate dinner or something like that.

And I wouldn't sign a treatment plan before speaking to the provider, no. I've actually never signed a formal treatment plan with any of my therapists. (I mean, I signed a consent to treatment, but that's different, and a legal thing.)

Is it some really specific sort of therapy like DBT? (Even then, I'd balk at it.) Or just a regular therapist?

I signed an informal treatment agreement when I was in a DBT group. It wasn’t binding or anything. Just that I agreed to the rules and group format but that was on the first night of the group-not before hand. I only stayed in the group a short time. It was a crock of ****. At least for me.

Hi Couch,

I'm feeling pretty restless today after an anniversary day therapy session.
I feel psychologically raw, too...but I found that I couldn't get close enough to the feelings.

Another session next week, and then a break again...

Hard to know what to do with myself right now.

Take care,

Lost

Hugs to you, Lost. Please be gentle with yourself today and this week. Could you try to write down what you're feeling or create art, something else to express it?

Hugs, Lost. Yes, be gentle with yourself like LT said. It’s a hard (understatement) day. Do whatever it is that you need to do to take care of yourself. You’ve been through so much. I can’t even imagine. Just listen to your heart and gut. Try to surround yourself with as many good things that you can: people, places, memories, anything. Take care of yourself.

Thanks LT and Scarlet,

I've kind of been floating through today but may create something tomorrow.
More than the playlist of songs that make me think of Steve, I mean.

I have a check in with my contact at the helpline on Monday, in advance of working on Tuesday - the anniversary of the day I found out.

Thanks for being here,

Lost