Posted by Racer on June 5, 2007, at 15:56:07
In reply to I am absolutely petrified of therapy, posted by Meri-Tuuli on June 3, 2007, at 12:08:37
Hey, Meri,
I am a big fan of therapy, especially psychodynamic therapy, and will tell you that it's helped me enormously. It's actually helped better than chocolate and ice cream combined! It's also helped more than anything else: more than any drug, more than any behavioral intervention, etc.
One thing I think of when I think of reasons to go into therapy, is that most of us like to talk about ourselves, and in therapy that's what you do! Just think, a full 50 minute hour of talking about my favorite subject! (OK, that's being flip again, but it's also true. It feels nice to talk about myself, without the fear of being judged as selfish, narcissistic, whatever.)
The real reason that psychodynamic works so well for me, I think, is that I have to examine some beliefs so deeply held that I've never considered questioning them. Just as I know the earth is spherical, I know that I'm selfish and not good enough. Uh... Actually, it's not so much that I'm selfish, as that the people around me telling me that were so narcissistic that they only considered me according to whether or not I was meeting their needs. Examining that sort of belief is the first step towards learning a new set of more adaptive beliefs, and learning healthier attitudes about myself, which in turn helps improve my life in general. (Life kinda emulates a Hoover if you always think the worst of yourself, you know? Or, let me put that another way -- take my word for it, that makes life less than pleasurable...)
I do agree that a good fit is the most important part of therapy, that what you put in is directly linked to what you get out of it, and that twice a week is a great plan for keeping the flow. In fact, whenever I get to a sticky spot in therapy, I'll go twice a week for a while, because otherwise it's too easy for me to avoid the hard stuff in favor of the day to day.
And yes, psychodynamic therapy can indeed help you with day to day life. For example, I have certain patterns of behavior, and by becoming aware of them, of their influence in my life, of where they've come from, I can start working on both the issues themselves AND the behavior that results from them. (And alas, my communication skills are totally absent today. I know what I mean, but can't figure out how to express it...)
Anyway, good luck with your therapy. I think you'll be glad of it, and anyway -- it's not a permanent decision: if it's not for you, you can always quit, take a break, look for a CBT therapist out there, etc.
Good luck! And keep us updated, eh?
poster:Racer
thread:761028
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20070525/msgs/761372.html