Posted by Penny on June 27, 2003, at 7:59:54
In reply to Re: Penny!!!!!!, posted by Dinah on June 26, 2003, at 21:22:08
> Ahhhh, I see it isn't the same therapist. You must tell me your secrets for getting through the transition, to give me something to cling to if my therapist ever terminates me.
No - so much has changed since I was last on the board. After surviving my therapist's maternity leave (her son is now a year old!) and going through the day program you mentioned - an intensive outpatient psychiatric program (IOP) designed to keep me out of the hospital - AND leaving my job, I moved back to my college town to return to school. I'm now working at my alma mater in my field (public relations) and taking classes to prepare for a career change to nursing.
The IOP program I was in was excellent, though now I've discovered a year later that my insurance at that time has refused to pay for it, so I recently received a $3500 bill from the hospital!!! The funny/ironic part is that they would have had no problem paying for inpatient treatment!!! I was in the program for four weeks, three times a week, and it consisted basically of group therapy for 1.5 hours and then a 'class' of sorts for another 1.5 hours where we discussed what we wanted to work on, techniques for dealing with depression, how we were going to get through the weekend, etc. The group therapy part was extremely helpful as it was great (in an odd way) to be with people who all completely UNDERSTOOD what it was like. I was the only one in the group, though, who had never been hospitalized. Most of them were referred after hospitalization. Even though everyone was depressed, it was a great support for most, though some I think didn't gain the same benefit as a result of the severity of their illness. I met one girl who had gone through ECT and had great results and saw others make great strides in their treatment. And I myself made great strides in my treatment.
Anyway, in August I moved back to Chapel Hill and here I am. I continued to see my former therapist for a while, traveling back to Charlotte on Saturdays and occasionally having a phone session. But, inevitably, I had to find a new therapist, so I asked my pdoc for referrals in the area (my doc practices in both cities) and interviewed three therapists. I'm very happy with the choice I've made, and that made the transition much much easier. I started seeing the new therapist weekly while still seeing the old therapist every few weeks for a couple of months, and then we ended. It was really really hard, I won't kid you, and I still think about her a lot, even though it was February (?) the last time I saw her, and I've left her phone messages a couple of times letting her know how I am, making sure to call when I know she won't be there as I don't really think I should talk to her, and she talked to my new therapist and filled her in on what we had done and her thoughts about my therapy and so on, which I think helped significantly. So it was not like completely starting over from scratch.
The transition, I think, has gone smoothly, and while I was worried about not liking my new therapist as much as my old, I've found that they are quite different in many ways, and similar in others (compassion, caring, concern, etc.), but they are not really comparable. What I mean is that my old therapist was perfect for what I was going through at the time, and my new therapist seems perfect for what I am going through now. With my old therapist I did a lot of 'inner child' work, and she was young and had young children and was the ideal 'mother' to my child self. My new therapist is a little older and has an adult child and is an ideal 'mother' to my adult self. It's interesting and wonderful how these things work out sometimes.
I recently had a slip, though, and, after doing well for quite a while, am battling the demon once more. Pdoc and I have started shifting meds again (I'm on quite a cocktail) and I'm having frequent headaches again after getting rid of them nearly altogether for a while, and I have an appointment at the sleep clinic here early next month, as my sleep is still seriously disturbed and not restful. Ready for a job change, can't say I'm crazy about the one I've got, though I'm thankful I have a job!!! Just feel like life's droning on and on and I'm losing patience. My dogs keep me going, my family and friends are driving me crazy thinking they know what I'm going through when they don't and giving me advice that I have heard ten million times before: "work on your positive thinking. keep your chin up. don't let this get you down. it will get better! don't think about it. distract yourself." and so on and so on ... I can barely stand it anymore.
Fortunately, I've kept in close touch with k9lover from this board and she truly understands, as do you and most of the others on the board. And, as I said, I have a wonderful pdoc and therapist and they get it too. So I'm trying to stop talking to anyone else about what's going on, because it just serves to upset me more. :-(
so, that's my update. Hope you're doing well, though I see that the insomnia is still a problem! That sucks, I know.
good to hear from you.
penny
poster:Penny
thread:237343
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20030626/msgs/237463.html