Posted by fallsfall on June 5, 2004, at 13:20:30
In reply to DBT therapist...Did I find a nut..trigger**, posted by terrics on June 4, 2004, at 20:23:23
Terrics,
A DBT therapist should call you (right) back. Period.
You should ask her point blank what the best way to get hold of her is, if she has any hours when she isn't available - and who you should call at those times, how long you should wait for a callback before try her again (assuming that she didn't get your first message). DBT therapists are supposed to be VERY available.
I hope that you were able to control hurting yourself because you were angry at her. You deserve to be angry at her - but that shouldn't cause YOU to hurt.
Have you told her how her cancellations have bothered you? You need to find out if her "unavailability" is because she thinks it is therapeutic, because she is disorganized, because she has some limit (i.e. is sick herself often), because she is too busy, because she doesn't know you well yet, or whatever else.
Don't feel badly about asking these questions. You need to know what you can expect from her. Once you know what you can expect, then you can decide if she can give you what you need - at that point you can think about leaving. There are too many unknowns for you to make an informed decision right now.
Do you also have Skills therapist? If you do, you can talk to that person about your individual T, and try to come up with a strategy (your Skills therapist shouldn't intervene (i.e. talk to) with your individual therapist, but she should help you come up with a plan for how to deal with it.
*I* am really proud of you for calling her before you hurt yourself, and for trying the distraction etc. THAT is a hard decision to make, and it is really hard to *Do* that in the beginning. I hope, regardless of her reaction and regardless of whether you ended up hurting yourself after you tried to call, that you are proud of you, too.
poster:fallsfall
thread:353890
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20040603/msgs/354042.html