Posted by Dinah on December 11, 2002, at 21:22:24
In reply to Re: dissociation during therapy???? » Dinah, posted by bluedog on December 11, 2002, at 20:27:30
Well, I'm no expert although I confess to reading a lot. I understand that dissociation during therapy is quite common. I frequently experience it myself. At first my therapist saw it as one of my schizotypal traits. He said I always looked like I was watching tiny angels dancing in the corner of the room. :)
Once he came to understand that I was dissociating, he started calling me back when necessary. There are also CBT techniques to combat it. Judy knows a lot about these. One is to tightly curl your toes. I tend to lightly scratch my arms or subtly pinch myself.
I think dissociation is just a skill that people happen upon. Once you've done it once and find it works you tend to repeat it. I'm guessing it only is a problem if it interferes with your life. It interferes with my life. Dissociation is often a symptom of PTSD, but I don't *think* it is necessary to have PTSD to dissociate. I think it's just a coping mechanism that people who have a natural ability for it use.
You might want to start trying the CBT techniques for grounding during dissociation along with the techniques for social anxiety. If you're able to change your life enough with self help techniques, you might decide not to go back to therapy. I've personally found it more valuable to do those things in the safe therapeutic environment, but that's me. I'm a huge chicken.
I'm thinking it's best to go in with clearly defined goals, although I'm not a great example of that. I went in for OCD related panic, and then I had a nasty postpartum depression and my brain just changed. I became cyclothymic and I find that therapy helps me to function in life on a minimal amount of meds (I don't care for meds).
This is probably more than you needed to hear, but I hope I've given you something that helps. :)
Dinah
poster:Dinah
thread:1797
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20021109/msgs/1800.html