Posted by NthnBrazil on October 24, 2006, at 11:11:49
Greetings all -
I had posted a few weeks back about being new to therapy and concerned that all my therapist did was listen and nod and not offer much. I got some advice to give it 5 sessions and then see how it felt.
Well I just had my 4th session and I'm pretty pissed off and ready to quit this guy but I wanted to see what folks on here thought:
At the very end of my 3rd session I made a connection with an event in my childhood that I think was the start of my anxiety. It wasn't a repressed memory or anything. I knew the story but I had never realized before that the anxiety I had at that moment in my childhood was the same as what I feel now or that it was tied more to social anxiety than performance anxiety. I recounted the story at the very end of the session and made the realizations that night after I had gone home.
So I spent the whole last week waiting for my next session to dig into it deeper. I figured this was when the T would start to make a difference rather than just talking to a wall. When the session started I told my T about what happened and finished by saying "so now I don't know what to do with this" and he just looked at me and nodded. So I firmed it up and said "I guess what I'm asking is, what do I do now?" and his answer was "Talk about it, see where it goes. . ."
So I tried to for the rest of the session, but he offered me nothing, not a single other comment or question. I even purposely changed the subject in the last 10 minutes just to see if he would call me on it and bring me back but he said nothing. Finally I just stopped talking and he let the silence hang for a good 2 minutes until the session was over.
At this point I am completely frustrated with the situation. I do believe that digging into my past is a good thing, but I need more action than this. My original plan was to work with a CBT therapist, and the last 4 sessions seem to confirm to me that that is what I need to do.
I just wanted to use this as a sounding board and see if I'm right to be shocked at the T response to me or is that par for the course. I mean, if he can't offer me any guidance when asked a direct question, what good is he?
poster:NthnBrazil
thread:697304
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20061012/msgs/697304.html