# How many of you guys are in therapy and it is working for you?



## coverupeve (Jun 17, 2013)

?? 

does it work eventually?? -__-?
been going for a long LONG time now and I don't feel any different
so I am not sure whether to keep going or not
have to make a decision by Tuesday
been thinking about it a lot but I just can't make up my mind
should I stick around or just end it????

have you been having any luck in therapy/ is it worth sticking to it?


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## RelinquishedHell (Apr 10, 2012)

I've been going to therapy on and off for several years. They've never been able to figure out any way to help me. I've never met one that knew anything about social anxiety.


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## Nanami (Aug 1, 2013)

I've gone about four times and I feel like I'm headed in the right direction.


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## CheezusCrust (May 23, 2013)

It's only been helpful for me in the sense that I have someone to talk to whenever there's a session. Usually some religion is pushed on me whether it's Christianity, New Age, or Buddhism. I'm annoyed some psychologists seem to throw science out the window, and don't seem to understand statistics -- that not all people are helped by CBT even though they always make it sound like it works with everyone.


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## BarryWelsh75 (Sep 2, 2013)

I have been in therapy on and off since 1994 but with long gaps in between. I have recently started again with a new therapist and to be honest it's killing me at the moment. Am starting to open up things again that I have felt have never gone away but chose to block them. It is starting to come out of me like I have opened a floodgate. Am having panic attacks various times throughout the day and close to tears all most all the time. I am getting flashbacks and feel my medication is doing zero help. If I could sleep well I would be happy to sleep for 48 hours, except getting a lot of bad dreams recently.


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## coverupeve (Jun 17, 2013)

BarryWelsh75 said:


> I have been in therapy on and off since 1994 but with long gaps in between. I have recently started again with a new therapist and to be honest it's killing me at the moment. Am starting to open up things again that I have felt have never gone away but chose to block them. It is starting to come out of me like I have opened a floodgate. Am having panic attacks various times throughout the day and close to tears all most all the time. I am getting flashbacks and feel my medication is doing zero help. If I could sleep well I would be happy to sleep for 48 hours, except getting a lot of bad dreams recently.


Omg maybe you should consider Not going anymore :no


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## sj86 (Jun 7, 2013)

You should go to a different therapist or find a specialist that can answer to your needs. There's no sense giving up, keep going to different therapists and stick to the ones you are comfortable with. I have seen many therapists in the past and will likely see many more to come.


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## ticktockLA (Aug 29, 2013)

BarryWelsh75 said:


> I have been in therapy on and off since 1994 but with long gaps in between. I have recently started again with a new therapist and to be honest it's killing me at the moment. Am starting to open up things again that I have felt have never gone away but chose to block them. It is starting to come out of me like I have opened a floodgate. Am having panic attacks various times throughout the day and close to tears all most all the time. I am getting flashbacks and feel my medication is doing zero help. If I could sleep well I would be happy to sleep for 48 hours, except getting a lot of bad dreams recently.


Don't stop going. That is the stuff you have to get past to make it thru.


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## BuriedAlive (Aug 26, 2013)

I went about 3 years ago and for me I felt it was not helping me at all. Iw ould always feel worse leaving than before i came. I would have panic attacks but did not show it. So i felt like exploding. I have a very hard time telling people ehats bothering me or how i feel. I will ALWAYS say i am good. Which is bad i guess but its all i can do. I wasnt on any meds when i started, but i am now so maybe iy would be beneficial now. Idk though because even right now i do not want to go at all lol


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## AussiePea (Mar 27, 2007)

I did it for about 2 years when I was 19-21 and it helped me a lot in conjunction with meds (usually taking meds to help me with the exercises I was given with the therapy). I believe a combination of those two yields the best results.


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## Barette (Jan 17, 2012)

Therapy did absolutely nothing for me. What worked was finding a person here or there that supported me. As well as forcing myself to just get over stuff. Therapy coddled me. Not that therapy is coddling, but that's how it was. I went to out patient and in patient, and out patient was horrible (listening to people drone on for 3 hours) and in patient worked only in the sense that I met some awesome people. Finding connections has done way more for me. 

But that's my brain. I guess I was never all that ****ed up.


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## millenniumman75 (Feb 4, 2005)

It takes practice and patience, but yes, it does work.


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## TeenyBeany (Sep 3, 2008)

I have found that CBT with a therapist who focuses on goals works the best for me. I have been to a therapist who "dug up my past" thinking that me talking about it would help me overcome my anxiety and had a very similar experience as BarryWelsh75. I feel like it's about finding a therapist you feel comfortable with and having the same end result in mind. Oh yeah! And make sure they have vast knowledge of SA GA


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## Lushiro (Apr 26, 2013)

I'm not in therapy yet, currently waiting for it. Hopefully i'll get accepted in there. Things move awfully slow where i live at the moment.


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## eldesperado (Sep 5, 2013)

Therapy actually tended to make me even more depressed. When I would talk with my psychologist about any problem, it would make me feel stupid and pathetic for even bringing it up. This caused me to stew about little things I had said during sessions for days. I just started an intensive outpatient program so we'll see how that works. I'm already liking it better than the one on one counseling.


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## VeMuñeca (Sep 5, 2013)

I still have severe problems and most certainly need more help beyond a therapist, but I do love seeing mine. I love knowing that there is someone there who will listen to, analyze, and care about my problems. No one pays attention to me at home therefore seeing a therapist is a huge help to my life.


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## shysunshine (Sep 11, 2013)

@coverupeve: have you considered trying a different therapist? or group therapy? i had such a difficult time with therapy at first, but group helped a lot. i nearly had a panic attack the first day, and by the second week i wanted to quit because i was having like 2-3 panic attacks / week.

but i went to talk to my individual therapist about it and she convinced me to persevere. so i did, and actually when i opened up to the possibility that the process might help, it did. it was a place to practice certain skills.

for example, when i was having REALLY inhibiting self-talk, i would ask the group what they thought. really often their opinions were just miles away from what i was thinking about myself. it allowed me to challenge that self-talk and start to form different beliefs about myself and the world. eventually my wall started coming down.

i also was able to practice a rule that i really like: it's okay to be raggedy. it's a rule that a lot of activists use in meeting spaces to make the space more comfortable for shy people to step up and contribute their thoughts. i had never tried to implement it in my day-to-day, because i often think of non-activist people as scary and harsh. but i tried, and it worked really well! and eventually i told everyone else about it and they loved it, too.

at the end of the semester, we had sort of gave each other constructive evaluations. like, out loud, in front of everyone. it was so shocking, how positively everyone thought of me. and hearing the ways in which they hoped i would improve more in the future was encouraging.

so that might be something to try...

AND @BarryWelsh75: Panic attacks usually happen because repressed emotions are coming to the surface. I've been reading all about them in this book: http://www.amazon.com/Anxiety-Phobia-Workbook-Edmund-Bourne/dp/1572248912

basically people who have panic attacks (and a lot of people with anxiety) have 3 major characteristics: pent-up emotions (usually anger), a strong need to please their perfectionist parents (and others), and a strong need for control. i fit all of those. do they sound much like yourself?

so panic attacks are what you experience when those pent-up emotions threaten to rise to the surface. you're so scared of that happening, of losing control (esp with anger, since it's an emotion that can totally control a person who hasn't ever allowed themselves to express or communicate their anger). but that's exactly what happens with a panic attack: you lose control of yourself, but in a different way.

i had a lot of the same happen when i started taking my social anxiety on in therapy. it's not like i've totally overcome them, but they're a lot better now than they used to be. and it got worse before it got better. there was a stage during my therapy when i was almost agoraphobic! because i was so afraid of being judged for my panic attacks.

also, one thing that seems to help me a lot when i'm panicking is painting. i'm no painter. i hate doing any art except photography because i'm so critical of my work. i can't seem to get anything down that i like. with photography, you don't see the results until you've put a lot of work into it, and by then the photos have got ya! you like them too much 

but when i'm panicking, i often get out water colors, brushes, and whatever paper i can grab hold of first. and i just start painting whatever is coming to mind. they're really dark, dystopic images, and they often look like the work of a seven year old. but i like them. they're a part of me somehow, and they're therapeutic.

just an idea...


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## vela (Apr 19, 2012)

It could be your therapist. How do you get along with her/him? Before I found my currently therapist, I went through a few. Some didn't help at all, others I just didn't "click" with. 

I've been seeing my therapist for five years now. It took a while to start seeing any progress. But now, five years later, I'm doing a lot better than I was before I started seeing her. So as long as you get along well with and like your therapist, it would probably be best to stick with them. However, if you don't have a good working relationship with them, find another one! Each therapist is very different. Eventually you do find a good one!


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## Malek (Oct 4, 2012)

I think I need therapy at this point, I'm having really stressful days at work, I feel like Charlie from that movie Me, Myself, & Irene. I'm afraid that I might eventually create my own Hank, yet I'm sure that won't happen, I'm just illustrating my self conscious feelings these past few months. I don't trust anyone in my daily life and I'm becoming more and more paranoid each day, thinking they're all judging me poorly.


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## Green Eyes (Sep 6, 2009)

I've been going to therapy on and off for the last 6 years. Only the therapist I have know has been able to help me. She knows a lot about anxiety and she understands how I feel. I have been in therapy with her for 2 years now. It's finally getting better with me. School is still hard for me and so is talking with most people.
But now there is depression. I thought that would go away when my anxiety would be less. But it seems that's not the case.


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## slider (Feb 9, 2013)

6 months of therapy and i learned one simple thing: people are oblivious of the other person and even if you for example throw up in public and turn into a zombie and start biting people no one will care.


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## Hamtown (Jun 10, 2010)

My therapist is brilliant but he is in another state and so i usually only see him once or twice a year. I think it works better that way, seeing him on the rare occasion. He helps alot, when i am willing to receive help. But recently i had to see someone else, i needed confirmation on something and didn't want to do a telephone session so i found someone..I felt the whole session as very manipulative. I just wanted to go in and get confirmation on something, she just wanted to dig into my past and keep me coming back, completely rejecting what i thought would be beneficial to my healing. She kept asking to much about me, it was uncomfortable.

If i listened and stayed with her, I would not now be in the process of one of the most incredibly freeing and healing experiences of my life. My other therapist would've backed me up and given me the tools to manage my fears, she rejected and pushed me the other way, making me feel like i was wrong and that healing can only happen with her. My other therapist never pushed me. She is probably ****ing around so many people's lives.

Therapy can be excellent but it is all about who you are with. Question who you wind up with. Seriously.


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