Seeing a counsellor - what to expect - PTSD

[Aoifeaye]

Had my first counselling session last Friday for PTSD. We talked about my day to day problems and physical symptoms and one of the childhood incidents that may have contributed to how I am now.

I don't know what to expect for future sessions. Will she take the lead by asking questions? Will she give me advice on how to cope with things? Or do I go in and just talk? What if I talk about things that aren't relevant? She was very friendly and nice and I liked her but I am worried about what to expect. I'm scared I'll do counselling wrong.

Might be worth pointing out I have ASD and I'm not great at social situations anyway.

She may tell you more about her model or approach, but in general (unless EMDR) the approach to trauma is about helping the trauma event or events be processed (which normally happens naturally to some extent in time, but not in the case of PTSD). So talking sbout it, especially talking about key incidents, including sights/sounds/smells, and what your interpretations or thoughts were at the time, and are now, is usually a helpful approach. It is not easy, it is likely to cause you some distress, so it is best to try to develop a trusting relationship first, or think of some grounding strategies together (like, a favourite place to bring to mind, a photo or image of someone you love). To process, it might be helpful to read it back, hear it spoken, write letters or other techniques, but a lot of the processing will happen between sessions. Expect to feel a bit raw, and maybe plan where you will go/what you will do after a session. Also, getting angry with people or the therapist is quite usual - try to work through it, not leave, if possible. Hope this helps and good luck with your therapy.

Thank you brown. Really good advice about grounding strategies. I wonder if that will help when the memories come into my head at other times. I never think about them on purpose so think I will find doing that hard, but they come to me sometimes without me wanting them to so that's what I'm hoping this will stop.