Discussion To those who have done trauma therapy/counselling. Was it worth it?

[Average Joe]

I'm getting by, but I know that the trauma from my childhood is causing most of my problems today. Some doctors think EUPD/BPD whereas another thinks that I have C-PTSD.I experience quite a bit of emotional pain and I was wondering if I should explore my trauma or not, the thing that is concerning me is if it brings up too many emotions that I can't deal with. (I'm a nursing student and can't handle a relapse in my behaviours regarding CTB and SH)

I don't want to disclose here about my trauma as I'm aware that this is a recovery post and I hope I don't trigger anyone.

I'm very interested in hearing if anyone has done any work on their trauma with a counsellor/therapist. If so, how did you feel about it? And most importantly, did it help?

 

[space-jester]

i know its a bit late and hopefully youre still mulling it over, but i didnt enjoy my experience. i have faith that this was a fluke, just a bad therapist but its put me off seeking help any further.
i began speaking about the issue and the counselor decided i wasnt being honest or was just generally lying about my feelings and so this set me back years in my recovery. it wasnt until years later on my own after journaling and thinking deeply about the events that i 1. even accepted and realized what happened and 2. could begin the journey of healing.
i think it would be worth it to try though, i really think my experience is uncommon and also was years ago now so the standards are probably much better.

 

[JoeFailure]

It has to be the right therapist. You have to have the patience to switch multiple times if you don't get lucky on the first one. With the right fit, yeah I think it helps. It's not a single cure but it can help.

 

[Regen]

I don't have a classic trauma but an attachment trauma from an emotionally bad parental home. I have no experience with classic trauma therapy. But of all the many therapies I have tried, what has helped me the most is schema therapy (inner child). Whatever you try, I think you should be very careful in dealing with your trauma so that you don't fall back into self-harmful behavior and lose your functionality. Take time and be careful to yourself. It's great when you have a handle on it!

 

[lwovely]

For me it helped a little bit to give me an insight on what to do to recover however it takes multiple therapists to find the perfect one for you. However I stopped early because I just didn't see the need for it anymore but I might go back to therapy soon

 

[Kassender]

I stopped hating myself so yeah absolutely

 

[Average Joe]

Thankyou all for your replies, I think I'm going to give it a go and just be cautious

 

[ForgottenAgain]

I'm in a similar situation to you. I was diagnosed with BPD several years ago but the latest psychologist I saw believes it may be C-PSTD instead, which I felt aligns better with my symptoms.
I did EMDR this year, several sessions, 40+. It didn't work. It left me feeling much worse having to relieve all that trauma again. I didn't do EMDR 100% of the sessions. Because of my fragile state, the psychologist did EMDR half the session, some sessions we wouldn't do it, and so on. I don't know what else to try. He recommended potentially trying EMDR again with someone with a ton of experience and doing it 100% or trying out DBT.

Maybe with you it will work better.

By the way, you can share how you feel even if it is the recovery section. If you want to prevent users from getting triggered, you can put your story inside a spoiler section, that way people need to click to read it so if they want to, they don't need to read it.

 

[CatLvr]

Didn't help me at all. I finally came to the conclusion that if it was SO bad that my psychic went to all the trouble to block it out (and what little I do remember was HORRIBLE) then I don't need to go through the trauma of remembering all those feelings again.

I definitely recommend trying, though. I am old and therefore in a different place in life than you. I will just spend the rest of my days determined to focus on what little good I can find in each day -- some days all that is my goofy orange cat sitting on my lap, eating Wheat Thins with me -- but, for me, it is enough.

 

[Average Joe]

I'm in a similar situation to you. I was diagnosed with BPD several years ago but the latest psychologist I saw believes it may be C-PSTD instead, which I felt aligns better with my symptoms.
I did EMDR this year, several sessions, 40+. It didn't work. It left me feeling much worse having to relieve all that trauma again. I didn't do EMDR 100% of the sessions. Because of my fragile state, the psychologist did EMDR half the session, some sessions we wouldn't do it, and so on. I don't know what else to try. He recommended potentially trying EMDR again with someone with a ton of experience and doing it 100% or trying out DBT.

Maybe with you it will work better.

By the way, you can share how you feel even if it is the recovery section. If you want to prevent users from getting triggered, you can put your story inside a spoiler section, that way people need to click to read it so if they want to, they don't need to read it.

Thank you for replying, I might read up about EMDR. I've got a session or two left of just regular CBT for anxiety but that's unrelated I think.

I wish you luck if you're thinking of doing EMDR again. I tried DBT and I find it's helped me cope a lot healthier