Had my Pschotherapy

[googoo]

Well i went in and just came straight out with, what do you think of EFT, (another therapy im thinging of having) that kind of fell flat on my face as he didnt know what the hell i was going on about.

anyway, it was certainly easier to go in with something to say,

we talked about my confidence problems today a lot and i finally feel like im starting to relax and get something out of it,

AND i only cried once lol, i know you are allowed to and all that but its pretty uncool sittling there looking like a beetroot with your makeup running down your face, i guess that also made me a bit less uptight.

I asked out right what kind of therapy it was, (how brave ;) ) and its pschoanylitical pschotherapy, please excuse any spelling mistakes, will spend tomorrow reserching it a bit to find out more what im ment to get out of it,

I came away today feeling positive and you lot really did help in that so thank you,

I dont have a session next week as they are re-decorating doh!! but i thing a week off every now and then is a good thing, although he seem to think i might turn into a nutcase in the two weeks lol,
Nope roger your not that important in my life yet lol

thanks peeps

[Amanda3266]

Hope it goes well next time. You're allowed to cry with these things. Much better than bottling it all up - but - understand how dreadful it feels. Best to just let the tears flow - they help to heal eventually. Counsellors and psychotherapists are used to it all.

((((((((((((hug)))))))))))))

[DecafArabica]

There are some books especially written for people who are contemplating or starting therapy. Windy Dryden (strange name, but good writer) wrote one called Handbook of Individual Therapy which (from memory) explains different sorts of therapy. There is lots of info available about psychoanalytic psychotherapy because it was the first kind of talking therapy available. There isn't much available on EFT: it's very new and not comparable to psychotherapy as (very broadly generalising) it deals with symptoms rather than root causes and there have been no research studies into its effectiveness.

[girlfromip]

I second DecafA's recommendation, I think that's a really good introduction to the main 'schools' of therapy.
Your session sounds like a totally normal one! Most people I know spend a lot of time crying at many stages of therapy.
Glad you're feeling better about it.

[DecafArabica]

I am absolutely crap at crying and spent many many early sessions wishing I could weep buckets like clients are 'supposed' to!

[Earlybird]

googoo - it's great that you're going, and well done for being brave enough to start tackling your demons - we all have them.

I wouldn't worry about crying. If you need to cry, then do - after all this therapy is about you, not what anyone else might think. And you're going to therapy in the first place because you have some painful issues to deal with - and that's bound to make you feel emotional. The therapist isn't going to think less of you. As someone said on another thread, they're trained for this stuff, and are completely accustomed to it.

One question - do you look at the therapist while you speak? In my therapy, I don't look at the therapist. At first that seemed strange, but I think it helped me not be so self conscious and it helped me stop wondering about how the therapist was reacting to what I was saying.

Like you, I used to go in with a "topic" in mind as I worried about what I would say/how the time would be used. But, I realised that the sessions were far more productive/enlightening when I went in and just talked about what was happening in my life in a stream of consciousness sort of way. Talk about what upsets you, what confuses you, when you had a happy moment, what you're trying to figure out, etc. Those sorts of things will help the therapist help you.

Best of luck. It is so scary and unfamiliar at first, but can be hugely valuable. Let us know how you get on.

[DecafArabica]

Totally agree. There is no right way to 'do' being a client--some people cry, some don't, some feel very weird if they don't look at their therapist and some find it's easier to be honest if they aren't searching his/her face for reaction/signs of judgement. I spent the first year of my therapy facing away from my therapist, but these days I feel OK facing her.

[ElectricBlue]

I've recently started psychotherapy - cognitive analytic therapy. It was for various things - past and present issues. I've got to go away because I'm going to be interruped any sec, but you can CAT me if you want to talk about it. (Did your PT give you forms to fill with these symbols on them - ++/+/0 - where you had to give info about all your reactions and symtoms? - I found that very useful.) Hope things go well for you.

[Earlybird]

googoo - just stumbled across this old thread, and thought I'd ask how you're getting on with the pyschotherapy? Hope everything is going well.