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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 10 of 10. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Dinah on November 17, 2011, at 8:50:01
I know I started a thread once, comparing him to the little girl with the curl in the middle of her forehead. :)
I had some stress at work last month, and a lot of sleep disturbance. And my beloved canine friend died. I haven't been very stable since, sleeping way too much sometimes, and feeling a bit better than well in the bad sort of way at other times.
He's at his very best when I'm unstable. He manages to help me find my center. He helps pull me out of my brain where I sometimes get stuck when I'm hypomanic, or just short of hypomanic. My thoughts whirl and race and on some level I enjoy the feeling that I can really think and process things better than I usually can. Yet it's exhausting and it feels physically bad. Risperdal helps with the obsessive thoughts. But my therapist helps pull me out of my brain and into my *being* self, where it's calm, far better than Risperdal ever could. I don't know how he does it.
Sometimes therapy still feels like magic.
Posted by annierose on November 17, 2011, at 14:52:52
In reply to My therapist can be very good, posted by Dinah on November 17, 2011, at 8:50:01
I love that you feel that magic again! It has been a rough few weeks for you (including in that his giant mis-step a few months ago). Relationships are never perfect. Even therapists make mistakes but to be able to mend and learn from those mis-steps is what growing as a person is all about - for both therapist and client.
I am glad that magic exists after all those years. It's like a marriage - it's hard to get those sparks flying again (at least for me) ... but you keep plugging aaway, being open to the process, your therapist was able to help pull you to the surface and remind you of the value in your relationship with each other.
Thank you for sharing.
Posted by TherapyGirl on November 17, 2011, at 18:25:58
In reply to My therapist can be very good, posted by Dinah on November 17, 2011, at 8:50:01
That's so fabulous, Dinah. I love that you have kept at it with him.
Posted by Raisinb on November 17, 2011, at 21:25:49
In reply to My therapist can be very good, posted by Dinah on November 17, 2011, at 8:50:01
There is a magic to it when it goes well. And it never seemed to me that the magic was in *what* they say as much as the presence they bring. Which is why it feels magical, I suppose.
Posted by Solstice on November 17, 2011, at 22:39:36
In reply to My therapist can be very good, posted by Dinah on November 17, 2011, at 8:50:01
:-) I know what you're talking about. And it really is magical.. how a really good therapist who is connected and attuned to us can walk us out of the tangle... they say things that make it all just melt away.
Solstice
> I know I started a thread once, comparing him to the little girl with the curl in the middle of her forehead. :)
>
> I had some stress at work last month, and a lot of sleep disturbance. And my beloved canine friend died. I haven't been very stable since, sleeping way too much sometimes, and feeling a bit better than well in the bad sort of way at other times.
>
> He's at his very best when I'm unstable. He manages to help me find my center. He helps pull me out of my brain where I sometimes get stuck when I'm hypomanic, or just short of hypomanic. My thoughts whirl and race and on some level I enjoy the feeling that I can really think and process things better than I usually can. Yet it's exhausting and it feels physically bad. Risperdal helps with the obsessive thoughts. But my therapist helps pull me out of my brain and into my *being* self, where it's calm, far better than Risperdal ever could. I don't know how he does it.
>
> Sometimes therapy still feels like magic.
Posted by Dinah on November 18, 2011, at 13:06:45
In reply to My therapist can be very good, posted by Dinah on November 17, 2011, at 8:50:01
Yesterday wasn't a very good day. I called him a couple of times, but didn't leave a message. I asked him he would have known what to say to help had I asked him to call back. He does now. :)
I think one of the things I like best about him is his ability to meet me wherever I am, without fussing a lot about it. At other times, he might get into theory. But when I need him to *be*, he seems to understand that. That I need him to be still with. To help me slow down the whirring of my brain.
Sometimes I think it has to do with his understanding that therapy, at times, has a spiritual component. I don't mean religious, but... Oh, I don't know.
His voice doesn't hurt, either. It's a nice deep baritone, and must bring up primitive memories. It helps me feel safe. Is that shallow? I found some recordings of his voice on the internet, and I listened to a couple of those yesterday. It helped.
He was helping me figure out ways to stay out of my left brain, to give me a rest.
Posted by Solstice on November 18, 2011, at 22:17:09
In reply to Re: My therapist can be very good, posted by Dinah on November 18, 2011, at 13:06:45
> His voice doesn't hurt, either. It's a nice deep baritone, and must bring up primitive memories. It helps me feel safe. Is that shallow? I found some recordings of his voice on the internet, and I listened to a couple of those yesterday. It helped.Nothin' shallow about it. I so admire your ability to look out for yourself - to know what you need.
>
> He was helping me figure out ways to stay out of my left brain, to give me a rest.I can relate to what you're talking about here! My therapist tells me that I need to stay out of my head - unless I'm with other people. T says that's the only time it's okay for me to be 'in my head' (referring to the left side of my head :-)
Solstice
Posted by Dinah on November 25, 2011, at 9:51:45
In reply to Re: My therapist can be very good, posted by Solstice on November 18, 2011, at 22:17:09
My father used to call me the absent minded professor, because I'd walk around with minimal awareness of the outside world. :) That's a nicer way of phrasing it than my husband uses.
My therapist generally makes himself available to his clients on Black Friday. I accepted this year, when I wasn't doing so well. I started feeling better so I cancelled. It filled me with so much anxiety that I took it back. Not so much because I didn't think I could make it, as because I was so pleased to feel needy with him again.
I'm not sure if that makes sense to anyone else...
Posted by annierose on November 26, 2011, at 7:11:17
In reply to Re: My therapist can be very good » Solstice, posted by Dinah on November 25, 2011, at 9:51:45
Makes complete sense to me. Been there. Knowing there is an appointment, holds me together, it's my soft place to land admist a crazy life, crazy week or bad day.
Posted by Solstice on November 27, 2011, at 0:00:14
In reply to Re: My therapist can be very good » Solstice, posted by Dinah on November 25, 2011, at 9:51:45
> My father used to call me the absent minded professor, because I'd walk around with minimal awareness of the outside world. :) That's a nicer way of phrasing it than my husband uses.
>
> My therapist generally makes himself available to his clients on Black Friday. I accepted this year, when I wasn't doing so well. I started feeling better so I cancelled. It filled me with so much anxiety that I took it back. Not so much because I didn't think I could make it, as because I was so pleased to feel needy with him again.
>
> I'm not sure if that makes sense to anyone else...
Makes a Lot of sense to me, Dinah. ..like getting to be a kid again, isn't it? ..like getting a break from the demands of adulthood ;-)Solstice
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