Posted by beardedlady on May 31, 2002, at 8:37:40
In reply to Re: I hoped someone would think that was odd, posted by mair on May 31, 2002, at 7:54:32
I know how it feels to want to be coherent. I teach English, after all, so I value words and their expression. (And it's embarrassing when I screw up or babble!) But I find that I don't need my therapist so much as when he helps me out of my blue funk--especially when it's deep.
The first time we met, I told him all about my current self. I was weeping, sobbing, crying, dark. He asked me what I did before I had my daughter, and I told him that. He noticed that I was exuberant when I was talking about the things I did pre-pregnancy. He said my face lit up, and I became animated, talking with my hands and moving around.
At the end of the first session, he said to me: You need to start writing poetry again. Either that, or join a punk rock band.
I went home and wrote. It was a poem about panic. The fog lifted. Next time, he told me to write a poem about the loved ones who had died, and I did. It was almost a miracle. He could see the things that folks who knew me couldn't because they took it for granted. He gives me so many coping skills and plans in case of disaster.
When I am doing well, there's little I need to work on. (In fact, talking about the bad stuff often makes me start to feel bad again.) But when I'm depressed, I need a refresher course. And if I cry, it's okay. That's what he's there for. His job is to make sense of what I say and give me advice.
That's why I say you have to really like and trust your therapist.
There's no question that you have to take your clothes off when you visit the doctor--for checkups as well as sick visits. You just do it. So why are we afraid to bare our minds in front of the therapist?
beardy : )>
poster:beardedlady
thread:157
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20020516/msgs/179.html