Therapy has broken down

[AgnesMiall]

Just wanted a space to put this. I've been receiving a form of talk therapy and I have slowly worked out it hasn't had a great impact on changing things for me. I know therapy isn't necessarily a cure all but I think I should have gone done another route - a treatment which might have been more effective.

I've been going along to this therapy for several months now and I have spent a fair bit of money on it. Now looking into a different type of therapy (one that has been professionally recommended by psychiatrist along with the type of treatment I have been having). I feel really deflated and low at the realisation.

Has anyone else had this experience?

What type of therapy have you had?
A few months is a very short period of time in the grand scheme of things.
What type of therapy has the psychiatrist recommended?

Yes I found this too, although I wouldn't write everything off. I have been reflective and two years on can see some changes in my thoughts towards certain things we covered.

I have been doing this therapy for at least a year. It hasn't been a complete waste but I think I could have paid much less for a listening ear (counsellor) from what I've actually got out of it. A bit frustrated it has taken me this long to see this. EMDR has been suggested and I think this is going to be my next one to try. Again £££££'s. It is available via the NHS I understand but I'm a bit dubious as to the quality of therapy given the experience I've had with the NHS mental health service so far (sorry to be negative but this is my experience which has been awful). A bit fed up of having to spend all this money because it feels just another insult that I have to pay for something someone else has most likely largely caused.

I'm currently having emdr on the NHS (had to wait 4 and a half years) the quality has been excellent. I was told at the beginning I'd get 20-25 sessions and worried it wouldn't be enough. However I'm over half way in and can see it probably will be enough. Don't discount NHS care, might be worth getting on the waiting list.
I was very sceptical about emdr but am a total convert its amazing, I don't know how it's working but it is.

What prompted you to seek therapy? If you haven't already, please consider remedial hypnosis as it addresses the problems in the subconscious mind as opposed to the conscious, rational mind.

Eyesopenwideawake I think remedial hypnosis is akin to EMDR? I'm planning to try EMDR in the first instance as it has been recommended but will keep it in mind.

@AgnesMiall remedial hypnosis is more like talking therapy, except that the conversation is with your subconscious mind, which is the source of your emotions, imagination and creativity.

Your subconscious has been around far longer than your rational, conscious mind, which doesn't begin to develop until you're about 8-10 years old, and it's aim is quite simply to keep you happy and safe (in that order - it's why we can do dangerous things like jumping out of planes with bags on our backs for the fun of it!).

However if it's working on outdated, misunderstood or simply incorrect assumptions ("I'm not good enough/I am responsible for bad things happening") then that can cause huge problems to the adult you. RH allows you to communicate directly with that inner child and correct the misaligned thinking. No 'woo', no trance, just a straightforward conversation.

I've had a similar experience. I tried art therapy first for about 6 months, and that didn't work at all.
Then I tried psychodynamic, which was helpful in dome ways but never got to the real root of some issues. I spent a few years trying that.
The last one was trauma therapy, which included some elements of EMDR. For me, this was for PTSD which was not diagnosed as it was caused by my experience with NHS mental health (I've had 5 hospital stays). Finally, I could feel something actually working, and the experience was so much different. It was quite a quick transformation as well.
Don't give up. The right therapy will be out there.