Posted by fallsfall on June 4, 2003, at 18:19:27
In reply to Re: Is it time to change therapists?, posted by deirdrehbrt on June 2, 2003, at 22:31:11
Yesterday I saw my therapist. I read my letter to her. It talked about how miserable I was. It described the last session from my view point. It said that I felt hope when I thought about changing therapists. It had a long paragraph about all the things that I have learned (that gray exists, not to be a workaholic etc. etc.). It said that I thought it was time for me to move on, that the thought was terrifying, and that I hoped she would support me through the transition. Then it said "Love, Fallsfall" (well, not exactly...). She was almost crying. She said "This is unusual, I don't have anything to say". She said that she thought it was a good idea, and that she would certainly support me through the transition (yeah!!).
She does CBT (and I did DBT). I told her that I thought that she was an excellent therapist so I didn't think that another CBT therapist would add much. I told her I wanted to try something else. "Not analysis 3 days a week!!" she said in horror. I told her I wanted to do Art Therapy and she looked at me like I had 3 heads. She told me to do art at home (no, that's not the same). I said art once a month and regular therapy the rest. She said that I had surprised her (and all this time I thought she had a list of names for me in her desk). I don't think that she had ever considered anything other than CBT. But she did talk about my group therapist, and she certainly isn't CBT. She gave me 1 Art therapist and a couple of CBT names. She'll have more next week. Next week we'll define what "transition" means. She thanked me for the paragraph about what I've learned, and said that she thought we had a really nice relationship. I agreed.
What types of therapy should I consider. It is true that the #1 therapy for Borderline Personality Disorder is CBT, but that doesn't mean it is the only one. They say that the therapy needs to be fairly structured (not completely free association). I know that I am not an easy client (because of the dependency and abandonment and stuff), so I figure I need someone who has quite a bit of experience.
What types of therapy do you each have? What is it like? What do you like? What do you dislike? Would you recommend it? Do you have a man/woman (and which are you)?
I'll get 4 lists of candidates from 4 doctors (her, my pdoc, my group therapist, my GP), and I have 2 friends who are therapists so I'll get lists from them, too. Any name that comes up more than once is a real winner! Then I'll look at what kind of therapy and whether they are on my insurance's list (though that will only continue another year). I'll look them up on the internet (do you believe I just said that??). Call and talk to them for a couple of minutes. Priorize and then probably see 2 or 3 (or more if I have to). Does that sound reasonable?
I was so tired this morning after getting my kids to school that I took a nap. When I woke up all I could do for an hour was sit on the couch with my dog, with my eyes closed but not sleeping. I'm starting to get a little more energy. I am much less distressed than before. And tomorrow I see my pdoc (good timing).
:: Sigh of relief ::
Thanks for your help!!
poster:fallsfall
thread:230679
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20030529/msgs/231469.html