I was just wondering if anyone else gets confused in therapy? (with their exlpanations and such) I tend to try and agree with everything my therapist says so it's hard for me to tell him otherwise.
I'm finding it quite intense at the moment however it's not really leading anywhere. For example I told him that I felt bugs crawling on me and that he must think I'm stupid for not scratching them off. He replied saying that I have emotions bugging me. I told him about how I can't watch t.v or go to the cinema with friends because i'm scared that a video clip will come up of me and he told me that I felt persecuted and was showing him in the session how I felt from him. I just found this confusing though. I was trying to tell him what's been going on and most of the time he refers it back to himself. It's not helping these things stop. I don't know what will. I spoke to my CPN and she said to talk to him and that i should get my meds reviewed. Does anyone else find this in therapy though?
Another question I have is, do you ever got told off for laughing? I ask this because when I laugh he tells me that it is innapropriate and that i should be upset.
I'm sorry if this post is stupid and doesn't warrant a reply, I guess i was just wondering what other people's experiences of psychoanalysis/therapy has been and what problems they have encountered.
Sorry once again.
sticks and stones may break your bones but words can tear your heart out.
It doesn't necessarily make them stop, at least not right away. But it can help you manage them better. To contain your feelings.
I'm in private analytic psychotherapy, and it works well for me, goes with the way my mind works.
It sounds like your therapist is quite a traditionalist in terms of the transference [how we transfer our feelings about our parents onto the therapist, to help us work through relationships].
My therapist has never told me off for laughing. But then I laugh rarely. If I show feelings incongruent with the situation, we work it through, explore what's really going on.
Analytic psychotherapy works with making what's unconscious conscious, so things may not make immediate sense.
I'm interested to know how much you've told your therapist about your background, childhood, relationship with your parents etc - that knowledge usually is the foundation for how the therapist works with the transference relationship.
It makes a bit more sense now, about making the unconscious concscious. I guess I just have to let more time pass us by.
I've told him a fair bit about my mother - who is schizophrenic. I guess I could tell him more though as I've had 3 previous therapists over 4 years I feel that I've spoken my heart out about her already. But yea, especially in terms of my father, i think it should help our sessions improve.
How long have you been in therapy for? Did you find it easier to as time went on?
sticks and stones may break your bones but words can tear your heart out.
i've always found therapists explanations confusing, i've had loads of different ones, and could only understand 1 of them who explained everything really well and really visually, wich worked for me. it took me ages to find someone i "clicked" with and could sit and talk about things with. as for the laughing thing? i've had a simliar thing with every therapist i've seen, i either smile insanely or laugh when im telling them something really bad/upsetting etc. i've been told off for it, told to stop it, i had one therapist crying whilst i giggled. then had one who told me its ok, as its just a defence mechanism, and that we all have them, and we develop them in order to survive, and they're hard to break/change.
dont know if that helps any. so yeah i get the smile and nod thing when they explain things to me and the laughing. i dont understand why everything comes back to him though.
It's not right that he tells you off for laughing, it's a very normal thing for people to do when uncomfortable/confused, which is clearly something that that type of therapy can induce.
I have to say, i found psychotherapy very helpful!
Although I did only have it for about 4 months so not a full course of it or anything, my therapist left.
But good luck :)
i'm sorry i can't concentrate much today, but i just wanted to briefly say i've done some psychoanalytic therapy in the past, quite intensively, and it can take a long time until you start to really understand the therapist's way of thinking. but once you do, it really does make a difference and i certainly don't regret any of it. xxx (i was 17 when i started and REALLY lacked insight!)
Thank you all for the replies! I think I shall try and be more honest with him. Not that I haven't been, I just mean if i'm confused or need more help to tell him. It's made me think, I always used to laugh when my mother accused me of things or made me feel uncomfortable so I'm going to tell him this.
Thank you for the replies once again!
sticks and stones may break your bones but words can tear your heart out.
I haven't had many problems with therapy other than it not helping.
However yes, there have been a few times when I've been confused with explanations. If you are confused, just ask what he means because if you just agree with him and you have no idea what he's talking about, you aren't going to get anything useful from seeing him. Your post isn't stupid at all however I do think that telling him that you feel it isn't helping is a good idea. He may be able to try a different approach.
Do I ever get told off for laughing? Umm, I have a really bad habit of laughing at the wrong times so my therapist pretty much accepts it...it's a nervous thing, I can't help it.
Previous username: Miss-Ruby
R.I.P my budgie Bubbles 26/01/09...in my <3 forever.
Generally me and my therapist get on quite well, which is strange. But there are times when i could rip his head off, I just think to my self "it's only an hour" and take a deep breath. Some times it's unbelievably hard to stay calm and I hate coming out angrier than I was when I go in for my sessions. But at the end of the day, although it may not seem to be working i am slowly recovering, which is amazing for me as I never thought I'd even come close to recovering.
I remember for about six weeks where my sessions would be an hour- an hour and a half, I hated it. I refused to answer questions and could see my self falling fast, and it is hard to trust them but I saw that he is just there to help me and he's not so bad. I've had various therapists and counsilors but it's just about finding the right one for you, some one you feel comfortable around and also some one who is helping you.
Just remember, the therapy is meant to help you, not the therapist. It's what i think
