Hello,My therapy journey so far has been very challenging and
unexpected. While I have found some great insight through reading this
forum there are few specific things I wonder if anyone has any thoughts
on and anything you have found helpful to mak...
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Hello,My therapy journey so far has been very challenging and
unexpected. While I have found some great insight through reading this
forum there are few specific things I wonder if anyone has any thoughts
on and anything you have found helpful to make the recovery/therapy
journey a little more bearable? For some context I am about 5 months 15+
sessions into seeing a Psychologist for the first time. When I went to
my GP to get a referral I was looking to understand this masking thing I
recently become aware of. Unexpectedly my GP told me I had social
anxiety, it was not the label but the realisation of what he described
knowing that I had experienced this most of my life (since at least 10,
now I'm in my 20s), realising not everyone experienced this and
understanding how much it has impacted my life up to this point that was
challenging to comprehend. Because of long wait lists I ended up seeing
see a Provisional Psychologist, my GP supported this idea. Once I
started my sessions it became apparent there was so much more anxiety
and other things I either had no idea about or I just thought it was
normal and everyone thought and felt this way, turns out that's not the
case!I have been going through what I will Refer to as My 7 Stages of
Therapy1. Shock 2. Denial 3. How did I become like this? 4. Frustration
at myself and others for not realising sooner 5. Frustration at little
me for developing this 6. WHY ME!?! 7. Acceptance - kind of.While I have
reached 7 I have not stayed there and find myself bouncing between 3-5
and recently 6 has been particularly popular. I’ve wondered about the
idea of enjoy the journey don’t focus on the destination, and wonder
should I find a way to shift my perspective to somehow enjoy the process
and not just look forward to when it’s over? Recently my Psychologist
told me we would be doing something fun next session, “FUN?! Fun for you
maybe, not for me”, I said. She laughed and explained why she thought I
might enjoy it, I certainly did not agree, although I appreciated her
effort for trying to encourage me. I often find things interesting and
want to understand more, I don’t feel I would ever consider anything on
this process fun or enjoyable though. I wonder whether anyone has found
a way to approach it this way and found it helpful? ? DiagnosisI have
had a maybe, maybe not diagnosis of something else for months now. I
find myself swapping between stages of telling myself I don't have it,
to accepting it in case I do have it. Is there anything helpful to deal
with the Question Mark stage? Session FrequencyAre weekly sessions long
term sustainable? With the exception of a couple of weeks I have been
doing weekly sessions and it can feel emotionally exhausting, however I
want to make progress as quickly as possible. I know this very much
depends on the individual and it is something I talk with my
Psychologist and follow her guidance on, just wondered if anyone has a
personal opinion on this. Lastly - any views on seeing someone early on
in their career, if you ever felt that their less experience had a
negative impact on your treatment? Also wondered whether anyone has
found the age difference to their psychologist have a positive or
negative impact eg: if they're much younger, older or the same age as
you? Thank you if you have read this far and if you are going along a
challenging journey I wish you all the best that it may get a little bit
better for you soon, as it is slowly for me.
Transcranial Magnetic Therapy
