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Post by Toni-Louise on Jul 22, 2013 20:44:19 GMT
Thought I would try to start a discussion about peoples feelings towards Counselling/therapy, which kinds of therapy have you received? has it helped? What do you think was the best part about it? hope this question doesn't bother people but I believe that often times people view therapies very negatively and I believe that they can be very helpful and thought sharing experiences of counselling may help people to see the benefits (assuming peoples experiences are positive).
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Post by Deleted on Jul 22, 2013 21:50:27 GMT
I have had terrible experiences with counselling, but also good experiences. My most recent therapy was good... in a way. She didn't really accurately describe it (I believe it was CBT-based), but you know, she did 'get' me more than most counsellors I've met and I felt good afterwards... for a day or two, then I'd get back to feeling the same. I believe therapy only works for me in conjunction with meds (I wasn't on meds that time). I'm sure it's great for some people, but doesn't seem to work very well on me. I don't know why.
I'm going to post my worst experience only (which I can only hope is very, very rare). I was 15 at the time. The counsellor spent the entire telling me that I wasn't depressed, that my self-harming and suicide ideation (and I was honest about that, even though I'd never been able to talk about it before) and all that jazz was normal and because I was a teenager and HORMONES were to blame, and gave me a lecture on the cycle of life and what that can do to your body. I'm not even kidding. I was mortified and felt like I'd been talked down to and dismissed after bearing my son like a five year old. I refused to see her again. I only wish I'd reported her. It put me off seeking treatment for three years, even though I was chronically depressed most of that time. After that, the thought of seeing a new doctor or counsellor made me have panic attacks (still does sometimes).
All I can say is that don't let bad experiences put you off seeking help from someone else. I suffered needlessly for three years without help because I was too afraid.
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Post by Toni-Louise on Jul 22, 2013 22:25:30 GMT
Thank you very much for your responses. evenstar your bad experience of counselling is unbelievable don't see how that person was qualified to be a counsellor particularly one working with young people who are already very vulnerable and I am very glad that you are still willing to give therapy a go after that awful experience, also I do think that it tends to be best to receive counselling and meds,I think GPs should be more willing to offer both as studies do show that there is a higher recovery rate when a combination of meds and therapy are used(obviously a money issue =/ ).Ami I have to admit I don't think I would enjoy group therapy either,I think I would feel very self-conscious,Misdiagnosis can be such a big problem for sufferers of mental health problems because people cant see it(not that I need to tell you),I know my mam had a right faff on getting diagnosed and it took years to get a diagnosis of bipolar.I hope MBT is helpful to you,I don't believe I have heard of it so may have to look it up. I have actually had a couple of experiences of counselling and have found that different approaches can be helpful or unhelpful for different people.I received counselling when I was in school(due to being bullied), I'm not really sure what type of counselling it was I just know it was a form of talking therapy.I really got on with the counsellor and I enjoyed sessions and felt much better after having a session.I also received EMDR (Eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing) which I received after I was in a car accident and my GP suggested I may have PTSD (not sure if that classes as a diagnosis lol).I found EMDR to be a very unusual form of therapy and didn't really stick to it properly and left before the sessions were technically over due to it clashing with university, anyway I did't really get on with the counsellor and didn't really like how clinical it felt, it felt quite cold and I didn't really enjoy it.I prefer being in control of what I talk about and not realy having so much structure =/
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Post by Michaela on Aug 6, 2013 22:46:24 GMT
Hey how come the poll is locked?
I've had five counsellors and each was an improvement on the last, so I don't know if that's a coincidence or because of the way I was relating to them?
The first two weren't great, they didn't seem to 'get' me and I felt patronised. Both were supposed to be CBT, but it was really inconsistent, with weeks between appointments and CBT needs consistency. The first one was also stopped suddenly - I turned up one session and was told it would be my last! Not great practice.
The third I'm not really sure - I was in a really dark place at the time, so we didn't do much 'therapy', but I think it maybe kept things from getting worse even if it didn't improve them.
My fourth and current counsellors have been really great though. The fourth was CBT as it should be administered - the same time every week, for a set number of weeks which were planned from the start. I'd just come out of a severe depressive episode, so things were still quite raw, but I was well enough to learn and apply the skills that CBT could teach me. My current therapy is more holistic, so it involves some aspects of CBT, but also psychotherapy. Now that I've had more time being reasonably well (though not perfect of course), I can use therapy to face the deepest things, which is difficult but also relieving and I think it needs to be done because I've never really talked about the hardest stuff.
Apart from my connection with the therapist though, I think it is really important how much you put into therapy - over time and with the right therapist and family and friends, I have gradually learned to be more open and honest, which is really essential in therapy. I didn't used to be able to talk about my feelings pretty much at all, it didn't come naturally and it hurt too much, but I've learned now that my feelings are okay to have, whatever they are, they are acceptable. I think the online world is probably part of this too, it's where I've first learned to express my true thoughts and feelings to real people, from the relative comfort behind a screen!
So I don't think it's so much the type of therapy as to your relationship with the therapist and I guess different methods are right at different points in your journey - I've had bad experiences of CBT, but it also worked wonderfully when it came at a time when that was what I needed.
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Post by Paul on Aug 12, 2013 16:40:58 GMT
I had counselling after my first diagnosis of depression about 20 years ago. My GP at the time didn't believe in the medication route, so the sessions were prior to being on any meds. I initially found it difficult talking to a complete stranger about my feelings, but she was very good at extracting my thoughts. I would come out of the sessions feeling like a great weight had been lifted from me. A few years later I had counselling whilst on medication, possibly Amitriptyline at the time and I found I was analysing what was being said throughout the session and knew what the counsellor was going to ask me next. I found the session boring and is if I could do the job myself and didn't get anything from it, that was the last session I had.
I think anyone who is offered counselling should try it and I do believe it works for some people and if it can keep some people off medication or on lower doses then all the better.
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Post by Toni-Louise on Aug 12, 2013 17:02:26 GMT
Michaela the poll was locked because It had a time limit unfortunately =/ might try and set it up or start a new one or something... Paul I am glad you had a good experience of counselling =]
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