Focused on the relationship between doctor and patient. Therapy is the process of self-discovery.
“What ails you?” the therapist asked, pen in hand, ready to take notes. “I can’t sleep,” the patient sighed, “No matter what I try, no matter what I do...”
Recently I wrote an article about my experience with a toxic therapist. She was my first ever therapist. The first shocking thing she did was to pick up her mobile phone while I was in a vulnerable state and crying my eyes out. She was also dismissive and authoritarian about goal setting for the upcoming sessions.
March 19, 2020 “Good morning Terry, I imagine having to switch therapists so often has been very frustrating. The easiest thing for you to do would be to call our office at….”
I will start this off by saying I am not a licensed therapist, counselor, or psychologist. I am simply a person who is on the journey of healing here to share my words, experiences, thoughts, advice, and feelings.
"You understand that you are going to have to be on medication for the rest of your life?" That's what Dr. Foxton was asking me as I sat on a cold, folding dark brown chair. It was a small room that was way too bright, and my newly assigned psychiatrist was looking down at a piece of paper as he asked me ridiculous questions from a computer screen. This was something he was clearly used to. He probably has another 50 patients after me just ready to sign off on a drug to fix them right up. Maybe if he just so happens to guess the right drug on the right patient, he might save a life or two. Who knows? Maybe he will save us all.
Almost immediately after I entered college, my life started falling apart. The flimsy tapes I had used to tape my mental sanity started crumbling down. The small cracks started widening and the hold I had started slipping away. The wounded and unresolved childhood trauma started showing up, taking up the form of mood swings and random crying spells.
If you've made it this after the Title and Subtitle told you this was going to be bad, you're either the a self absorbed asshole with a dark sense of humor that likes to laugh at their own demise, or some self loathing piece of shit that is looking to be triggered so you have some inspiration to write about how "mental health isn't a joke" or something like that.
Patient: What’s up Doc? Can you tell me what's wrong with me? Why do I feel this way? Why doesn’t it stop? Therapist: Q. Patient: Self loathing you say. I could of diagnosed that. I’m constantly bitching about my own problems. Hating myself. Paranoid everyones trying to take advantage of me. Especially my friends. Nobody loves me. I barely exist.
When you're working your way out of your depression and addiction life then some professional Individual counseling for adults can be helpful so you could work on your improvement with guidance. Through counseling, an individual goes through a process where he/she discover a new perspective of life and some self-awareness so they can move on to a better purposeful life and make them quit their addiction. Mental illness is a real thing and it should be deal-professional guidance.
If the quote "expect the unexpected" was a year, it would be 2020. We went from "new year, new me" to where is my mask? Nine months into this pandemic, I am still unwilling to accept the term "new normal." Celebrating birthdays alone isn't normal; standing outside of a grocery store to buy eggs isn't normal. Reminding my three your old niece to place the mask over her nose isn't normal and visiting our grandparents through a screen door isn't normal. That term, to me, means we have given up. I can openly admit that I didn't complete one new year's resolution, and I'm ok with that. This year introduced a ton of surprises politically, socially, and economically. Days tended to run together, and celebrating birthdays was a task within itself. But, one person who stood the test of time and was with me every step of the way through my surgery, COVID anxiety, re-introducing myself, and continuously talking me off the ledge was my therapist.
CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) focuses on managing problems by changing the way you behave and think. It is one of the most effective treatments for anxiety and depression. This could be by identifying and challenging unhelpful thinking patterns, surfacing damaging habits and developing coping strategies to problem-solve more efficiently, just to name a few.
What is your story? People are fighting for what they believe in, in their hearts. We struggle with different faces that we have to put on to make sure we reflect another perspective on those who view us in the world. Some say this would be called a Jack/Jane of all trades. Have you found yourself drowning in your problems? Have you found a way out? Or do they attach themselves to you like shackles that you are unable to break? Can you tell your darkest secret out loud for the world to hear? Do you think that could release some of the pain that you feel? We hide the things we don't want people to see about us for fear of judgment.