Introduction Peter0LX - Psychotherapy treatment for mild complex trauma

[Peter0LX]

Hello All,

I was diagnosed with mild complex trauma about 3 months ago. I have had some really helpful psychotherapy which has made a big difference in my life fairly quickly. The main source of my problems was bullying and neglect by my father from when I was very young. I had some previous psychotherapy 20 years ago which more or less only scratched the surface but at least it prepared me for my recent therapy. I worked as hard as I could to get the most out of my current therapy. What we have achieved is identify some significant painful episodes in my life, stir them up to articulate what I would have really been feeling at the time but have never put into words before, and then disconnect the painful emotions from my memories of those past events. There is more to it than what I have just said here. I just want to say that it has worked very well.

I liken the situation to me being a river, or perhaps river rapids, jammed with floating logs which represent painful memories. The therapy has enabled me to find the main hidden snagged log that was holding all the other logs back. Once we freed up that particular log, all the other logs started flowing downstream again. During later sessions, I felt that the now freely drifting logs jostled for position so that we could grab and deal with the most important ones.

My treatment has been very interesting and worthwhile. That's all for the moment.

[blondguy]

Hello Peter0LX

Welcome to the forums and thank you for sharing your experience

I felt like I was reading my own life experience when I read your post as I have been though exactly the same situation as you have been through...especially when you mentioned the bullying and neglect you went through with your dad

Peter mentioned " I worked as hard as I could to get the most out of my current therapy" You are an amazing person to have the determination to see this through. I understand what you went through when you were young and it can be a dark place to recover from.

Your proactive post with the benefits of therapy is very helpful....to the people that post on the forums and to the bulk of the people (approx 70%) that choose to benefit by just reading the forums ....:-)

It took me over 10 years to appreciate the benefits that therapy/counseling can provide. I thought I could self heal and that (for my own anxiety/depression) was a mistake.

Peter also mentioned " My treatment has been very interesting and worthwhile"

You have helped more people than you know Peter and thank you again! I do hope you can stick around the forums with your life experience......(only if you wish of course!)

The forums are a rock solid safe and non judgemental place for you to post Peter...always

my kind thoughts

Paul

[Summer Rose]

Hi PeterOLX

Welcome to the bb forum and thank you for sharing your story.

I'm really sorry that you got a hard time from your father growing up. I imagine yours wasn't an ideal fhildhoidBut I was so pleased to read that you have had successful treatment to deal with the trauma.

Thank you for the reminder that while people do unfortunately fall ill, they also get better with the right treatment. You should be really proud of yourself for seeking help when you needed it and putting in the hard yards to help yourself heal. Even better that your story can provide encouragement and support to others.

Kind thoughts to you

[Peter0LX]

Thank you blondguy.

I hope others reading these posts can take encouragement from how well psychotherapy can work. I too ended up trying to self-heal I guess because I thought that my previous therapy was about as good as it would get for me. A good friend triggered me 2 years ago to connect the dots about my father's abuse. I had had all the necessary information to do this for 27 years prior but for some reason the connections just never occurred to me. Both my parents had lied to me as a child about my father's neglect and abuse. It took years for me to work out that what I had been told as a child was bullshit.

Therapy works I think because it too stirs up additional memories which we normally self-censor when we just think about the past by ourselves. Therapy goes further than we can normally go alone by unstapling painful emotions from memories of events. After a while, we can then handle the memories without the pain.

You simply can't fully self-heal unless you're professionally trained. In most cases, you'll end up with a fuller enjoyment of life if you get a therapist to help.

Regards, Peter.

[Peter0LX]

Thank you Summer Rose.

I hope my story encourages others to put any hesitation and doubt aside and get into therapy.

Regards, Peter