Posted by Racer on April 25, 2004, at 9:15:04
In reply to Growing up in isolation really messed me up, posted by 1980Monroe on April 25, 2004, at 1:08:12
It sounds to me as if a good therapist is the first step for you. From everything you've written so far, I'd say that it hardly matters what orientation that therapist is -- it matters that you find a therapist whom you can work with, someone you feel hears you. Personally, having worked with a hypnotherapist years ago, I don't think that's the whole answer for you. It might be part of the answer for you -- it wasn't for me -- but it's not the whole answer. I would suggest that you look for the therapist based more on your ability to feel safe in the office, rather than based on a specific orientation. It's so hard to find the right therapist -- or, rather, A "right" therapist, since there might be more than just the one -- that you don't want to exclude anyone based soley on a label that might not mean all that much. Most therapists these days are kind of eclectic, a little of this, a little of that, some cognitive, some dialectic, a pinch of psychodynamic, etc. And any good therapist can help you work out a battle plan for getting past your distress.
Next, in your post you mentioned trying to make yourself interested in what others are interested in. What are YOU interested in? Trust me, forcing an interest you don't really feel won't do a whole lot towards helping you. An unforced interest will make you more interesting to others, which may help you more. Is there anything that interests you?
As for the isolation, that is probably a big part of it, but there may be more. That's what a therapist is there to help you discover. One of the benefits of being older than you are is that I can tell you things with a certain amount of authority. One of those things is that self-analysis may work, but psychotherapy works better and faster without quite so many dead ends. Even if isolation is the root of your problems, what does that isolation mean to you? Why, when you've got out of the house, are you still having problems around it? What do you feel when you think about getting involved with a group of people? What holds you back from approaching someone to make friends? Why don't you do [x] or [y] to get involved with others? Those are some of the next questions to ask, and it really helps to have someone to help you ask those questions and find the answers. That's what a therapist is for.
Also, when you look for a therapist, stay open to ideas that may not ring true for you right now. You seem to have made up your mind that you can't be medicated adequately, and that hypnotherapy is the only right answer for you. Could it be that you haven't been medicated adequately to this point because you haven't been open with your doctor about what's going on for you? Or maybe your doctor doesn't have the expertise to find a good combination for you, and another doctor might be able to prescribe something that would help more? And maybe hypnotherapy is not the only thing that can help, maybe it's only one aspect of the appropriate treatment plan? If so, you'll need to be open to those possibilities, or they may as well not exist.
Good luck, I hope you find peace and comfort.
poster:Racer
thread:339751
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20040419/msgs/339813.html