How did your pdoc / T react

When finding out you SI or that your SIing again. Did it matter to them whether you prepared to stop or not?

I think it depends on whether or not the therapist thinks you are in immediate danger. (I'm guessing that therapist is what you mean, forgive me if it isn't).
If the self harm has been relatively shallow, and in the past, they might just want to find out why and decide with you how to avoid further harm.

If you have started again, it probably depends on the severity of the wound and how well the therapist knows you. If they feel that you might be a danger, then they may want you in for a short in patient therapy. That isn't always bad. Its only temporary, and will give them the opportunity to work with you more frequently as well as keep you safe.

If there is self harm involved, the main thing is to get help and do it as soon as you can. Self harm can escalate without warning, or simply by mistake. Be honest with a therapist. That is the best way for you to get help.

Sam2

for my T we work on just not getting worse and talking about what made me SI and she wasnt upset or anything and my T knows i dont like talking about it much so we talk about it in small parts

Yes, I have restarted within the last 3 days and it's up to 4x a day but it's the same spot. She know's I had a severe issue with it as a child. She's going to know before I get there because it's in my charts that I drop off periodically. I don't edit myself in them. I scared her last time because I was being rather irrational but she only suggested in patient, that was about 10 months ago. It was a med change reaction but this time it's not and more then once. She's got to know me a lot more since then.

The response I'm hoping for my therapist is tomboy's therapist's response.

Anyone else?

Mine reacted really gently about it.

She asked me how I feel about it. I react pretty negatively to it so she started teaching me other alternatives and she stressed she was only doing it because she knew I despised myself for it. She doesn't really push the topic, but she said that she is happy that I did find a way to release what Im feeling and because I dont have any other way maybe its something I need until i feel a bit better.

TRIGGER.........



I recently attempted Suicide . My T was flabbergasted as he thought i would never have done such a thing. Since then he has been very attentive and apologetic, because he thought he let me down. For me their reaction doesn't matter because that had nothing to do with what I did. I am just glad he didn't dump me.

My t asks why and wants to talk about it. At least the last three weeks since I have been cutting lately. On that note I should mention that one time I was cutting several times a week I was scolded and told that it isn't acceptable.

There are times I can go for 6 weeks without self harming and then am at it again. Sometimes I don't know what reaction I will get from my t, it could be what I perceive as anger or someone that is trying to understand why.

I think it's hurtful to be scolded. If they are trying to understand they shouldn't scold or get angry. It's just not the way therapy *should* be. They're there to help, not make you feel worse or uncomfortable.

LoneWolfie, I'm sorry you got scolded.

My T was as understanding as one can be. Her concern was helping me find better ways to cope and to get me to face the things that were bothering me.

I remember telling her of a time I was in the shower and I turned the water all the way hot. I was punishing myself because I couldn't feel happy. I remember when I told her about it she almost cried. I saw she was fighting back tears. I think T's get attached and the pain we do to ourselves gets to them. They should keep and emotional distance, but when someone is pouring thier heart out to you I think it can be difficult to not get attached. Thats my 2 cents.

I only use hot water. I didn't know it was an SI thing. I should probably tell her. I'm currently doing a "multi-pronged" attack on myself the SI is because ED behavior is getting resolved w/o ED thoughts getting resolved.

I think anything that causes intentional pain is considered SI. I could have been scalded but thankfully the water didnt get hot enough.

I think you nailed it when you said that it's back because what is behind the ED is not being resolved... I think that's a huge step before you can take away that crutch, or you end up finding something else... I think if you are honest about it and can communicate with your T about it, s/he will take it better. I know my T was supportive when I wasn't ready to quit yet, and she helped me lessen the damage when she could. then it got to a point where I HAD to stop, but she helped me through that too. I think the more a T feels comfortable dealing with SI, the better they take it (less panic on their end... they are only human after all)...

Both my T and pdoc have been very gentle and understanding about it. They've never given me ultimatums, or scolded, or said I had to stop. We talk about why I need to SI and what might be better ways to cope with my feelings. We talk about recognizing the feelings before I SI, and about recognizing the urges without actually doing anything or doing something incompatible (like, if I want to SI, I can't do that when my hands are occupied by brushing the dogs).

My T is excellent about just not reacting at all. She thanks me for trusting her with the information and then we talk about it. But, I think she's very careful to not react because when I was a kid and my parents found out, they reacted so explosively that I felt like I couldn't tell anyone for fear of such a reaction again. When I first thought about telling T, I told her about my parent's reactions first and how much that killed my trust and hurt me (and that was 20+ years ago).

My pdoc tends towards more gentle concern and maybe even a little pity? Not sure, really. I haven't known him as long, so he's a little harder for me to read.

I don't think I'll tell pdoc but I already gave T a letter of all the crap that's been going on and why. I'm so scared to go Monday.