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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 6 of 6. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by alwayzblue222 on March 11, 2005, at 4:33:19
I'm new, have PTSD.
I just started a desensitization therapy program with my therapist to help me deal with memories linked with my PTSD. talking about the memory and the feelings at the time, your feelings about it now. not going back--keeping yourself in the present.
i was wondering if anyone else has gone through anything similar and has it worked for you?
alwayzblue
Posted by Tamar on March 11, 2005, at 15:57:01
In reply to anybody have PTSD, going through desensitization, posted by alwayzblue222 on March 11, 2005, at 4:33:19
> I'm new, have PTSD.
>
> I just started a desensitization therapy program with my therapist to help me deal with memories linked with my PTSD. talking about the memory and the feelings at the time, your feelings about it now. not going back--keeping yourself in the present.
>
> i was wondering if anyone else has gone through anything similar and has it worked for you?
>
> alwayzblueI'm sorry to hear about your PTSD. I've been through something similar with my T, though we never actually used the word desensitization so I don't know if it's precisely the same.
We did talk at length about my feelings from the past and how they intrude into the present, and I found talking about it extraordinarily difficult. But I kept trying to talk and it gradually got easier. My T was a wonderful listener. There were things I just couldn't say out loud at first and I started by writing them down (and even that was difficult). There are still things I can't say out loud, but maybe one day I might.
Keeping myself in the present was also something that took a lot of time to learn and get used to. It's still an effort, but it's worth persevering. Part of it for me was about learning to live with the pain. I had to accept that the pain was still there, but that it belonged to the past, if that makes sense.
I hope you find your desensitization program useful and I wish you courage.
Tamar
Posted by Shortelise on March 11, 2005, at 20:20:12
In reply to anybody have PTSD, going through desensitization, posted by alwayzblue222 on March 11, 2005, at 4:33:19
ask about the use of a beta blocker in this process. apparently some are having success with doses taken right after sessions.
Posted by Dinah on March 12, 2005, at 8:24:16
In reply to anybody have PTSD, going through desensitization, posted by alwayzblue222 on March 11, 2005, at 4:33:19
I'll bet a lot of people will be interested to know if you find it helpful. Is it something like exposure therapy for anxiety?
Posted by alwayzblue222 on March 13, 2005, at 1:19:38
In reply to Re: anybody have PTSD, going through desensitization » alwayzblue222, posted by Dinah on March 12, 2005, at 8:24:16
> I'll bet a lot of people will be interested to know if you find it helpful. Is it something like exposure therapy for anxiety?
You could say it is similar in some ways, depends on what types of desensitization therapy you do. Some take you back through the memory where you're actually re-experienceing the feelings-like what happenes when you're triggered. Othere's, like what my T and I are doing, we discuss a specific memory that is painful, making sure that I stay grounded in the present and not taken back into the past. We talk about the emotions I that I begin to feel surrounding that memory--how I felt then, and how I feel now. Both physical and psychological if applicable.
But because it is not just one experience, there are multiple memories to talk through. We talk through each memory as many times as necessary to ease the pain when that memory is triggered agian in the future.
I hope that helps explain.
Posted by alwayzblue222 on March 13, 2005, at 1:28:59
In reply to Re: anybody have PTSD, going through desensitization » alwayzblue222, posted by Tamar on March 11, 2005, at 15:57:01
> > I'm new, have PTSD.
> >
> > I just started a desensitization therapy program with my therapist to help me deal with memories linked with my PTSD. talking about the memory and the feelings at the time, your feelings about it now. not going back--keeping yourself in the present.
> >
> > i was wondering if anyone else has gone through anything similar and has it worked for you?
> >
> > alwayzblue
>
> I'm sorry to hear about your PTSD. I've been through something similar with my T, though we never actually used the word desensitization so I don't know if it's precisely the same.
>
> We did talk at length about my feelings from the past and how they intrude into the present, and I found talking about it extraordinarily difficult. But I kept trying to talk and it gradually got easier. My T was a wonderful listener. There were things I just couldn't say out loud at first and I started by writing them down (and even that was difficult). There are still things I can't say out loud, but maybe one day I might.
>
> Keeping myself in the present was also something that took a lot of time to learn and get used to. It's still an effort, but it's worth persevering. Part of it for me was about learning to live with the pain. I had to accept that the pain was still there, but that it belonged to the past, if that makes sense.
>
> I hope you find your desensitization program useful and I wish you courage.
>
> Tamar
>
>
>Tamar
You and I are opposites in that I can say the words out loud, well more like a whisper, but I can't wirte them down. It make them too concrete and real for me.
You maybe did get some desensitization through talking with your therapist, but this is a specific therapy program that therapists use for patients with PTSD. Talking through specific traumatic memories in detail numerous times until you no longer feel as much pain when those memories are triggered again.
If you were doing this you would have been told that this was part of your treatment program.
I wish you well with your other painful memories. I hope you can come to terms with them soon.
alwayzblue
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