# Therapy confusion



## lilly (Mar 22, 2006)

I get really confused about how therapy is supposed to help you quite often. I'm still getting upset for a few days after the session then settle down again. Firstly I'd like to know is it bad therapy or you need another therapist if you keep getting down after the sessions. Another thing I'd like to know is what would be the difference between therapy and just recording yourself on a tape-recorder and just listening back to yourself and giving yourself therapy? I honestly feel at a bit of a loss at the moment. The therapist can't tell you what to do but I think just talking and answering questions wouldn't be doing much!?
Thanks for any suggestions or for anyone who knows what I'm talking about.


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## yeah_yeah_yeah (Mar 27, 2007)

Depends what type of therapy you are doing. It sounds like you are doing one of the more emotionally focused therapies, perhaps psychodynamic therapy. Because the aim is to find the roots of your depression, it means having to look at the past which can be painful. It IS painful, but a necessary step in order to be aware of your own triggers and to neutralise them.

If you are only being treated for SA / Depression then CBT IMO would be a better option, but it depends on how much trauma there was in your life. My personal favourite is Schema Therapy, which combines the best of all the different therapies.

If you can find out what type of therapy you are doing it will be easier to anser your question.


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## ardrum (May 13, 2007)

I've also felt a bit "ugh" afterwards in my VERY limited experience so far, but I think this is simply the result of my extreme proficiency at avoidance, making it very difficult to address what likely is bothering me most. Getting specific with problems can feel yucky, especially when you can't really escape the focus on your troubles for an entire session (seems like an eternity of being under a magnifying glass, lol) but it's just part of the process. You have to uncover the pests before they can be exterminated.

Maybe consider asking what kind of approach your therapist is using. I plan on doing exactly this in my session this weekend because it would be VERY helpful to know the gameplan.


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## lilly (Mar 22, 2006)

Thanks yeahyeah and Ardrum. I think it could be psychodynamic therapy maybe but I will ask her. The sessions where I felt better she talked more during them and gave more direction to me. I think I need a lot of input from the therapist and don't know what's the norm. Every therapist seems to have a different style.
I'll have to look into this schema therapy. I've got a lot of "life" problems and at the back of it all is anxiety. 
I suppose someone wouldn't be a therapist with letters after her name if she didn't know how to do something to help? Yikes! At least I hope so. Maybe it's just subtlety. 
I think you need to know you're getting somewhere to continue or else you feel a bit silly for going - you know maybe some encouragement from them or advice.


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## yeah_yeah_yeah (Mar 27, 2007)

Hm. CBT would give you that in spades. It sounds like PD to me :con


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