Hello, I have used the Stress program twice now, plus I pull out the tapes again when I'm experiencing "memories" (I don't call it relapse). They have changed my life- I'm a more resilient stable calm person. I know I can do and be more and there are things that I think I need one-on-one help with.
I'm considering professional psychology counseling since I do have ongoing issues and I want to address them as many ways as I can; I am highly motivated to change.
There are really two types of therapy I'm looking at and I wonder if you have heard of them. One is called EMDR eye movement desensitization and the second is MBCT mindfulness based cognitive therapy.
usefulness of therapy? in addition to the program
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cuttingirl
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Hi,
I've done EMDR. It did seem to help, and it didn't hurt at all except for how anxious I would get before going through with it. The problem was that my regular therapist wasn't trained in it but wanted me to do it, and she referred me to another therapist who did it. It was this weird arrangement, and some funky things happened. For example, the therapist that did EMDR sort of competed with my therapist and acted like if I was under her care instead that I would get better treatment. My therapist ended up leaving the profession because of a family emergency, and I ended up going to the one that did EMDR, and she was not a good therapist at all. So, that situation tainted my experience with EMDR. I am actually considering doing it again, but was reluctant because that therapist was the only one in town that did it. Now, I see that there are others who advertise it, so I will probably try it again.
Basically, EMDR is good for traumatic experiences. I've had way too many traumas in my life. You go into the therapist, and you pick a traumatic memory, an image in your mind, etc. and you let your eyes follow a light that moves from left to right. You can control how fast the light moves. I think you list your symptoms of anxiety and their severity, and then you do a session with the lights, and then you do the survey again, and you keep going until the symptoms disappear. Also, it's interesting that EMDR can also be done using hand held vibrators that alternately stimulate the different hemispheres of the brain. That was less scary for me, but the truth is that EMDR was most effective for me using the lights on a fast setting.
This program is based on cognitive behavioral therapy, so a cognitive behavioral therapist would go right along with the program.
For me, personally, deep psychotherapy along with this program was what helped. I do think that addressing past childhood issues, grief, and trauma and finding out what is really going on unconciously, why we use certain defense mechanisms to cope, and setting good psychological boundaries was most helpful for me. I think you have to do what works for you, and sometimes that may mean experimenting to find the right balance and using a lot of different approaches. It also depends on what resources are available to you regarding good therapists, insurance, etc.
Take care,
luvpiggy
I've done EMDR. It did seem to help, and it didn't hurt at all except for how anxious I would get before going through with it. The problem was that my regular therapist wasn't trained in it but wanted me to do it, and she referred me to another therapist who did it. It was this weird arrangement, and some funky things happened. For example, the therapist that did EMDR sort of competed with my therapist and acted like if I was under her care instead that I would get better treatment. My therapist ended up leaving the profession because of a family emergency, and I ended up going to the one that did EMDR, and she was not a good therapist at all. So, that situation tainted my experience with EMDR. I am actually considering doing it again, but was reluctant because that therapist was the only one in town that did it. Now, I see that there are others who advertise it, so I will probably try it again.
Basically, EMDR is good for traumatic experiences. I've had way too many traumas in my life. You go into the therapist, and you pick a traumatic memory, an image in your mind, etc. and you let your eyes follow a light that moves from left to right. You can control how fast the light moves. I think you list your symptoms of anxiety and their severity, and then you do a session with the lights, and then you do the survey again, and you keep going until the symptoms disappear. Also, it's interesting that EMDR can also be done using hand held vibrators that alternately stimulate the different hemispheres of the brain. That was less scary for me, but the truth is that EMDR was most effective for me using the lights on a fast setting.
This program is based on cognitive behavioral therapy, so a cognitive behavioral therapist would go right along with the program.
For me, personally, deep psychotherapy along with this program was what helped. I do think that addressing past childhood issues, grief, and trauma and finding out what is really going on unconciously, why we use certain defense mechanisms to cope, and setting good psychological boundaries was most helpful for me. I think you have to do what works for you, and sometimes that may mean experimenting to find the right balance and using a lot of different approaches. It also depends on what resources are available to you regarding good therapists, insurance, etc.
Take care,
luvpiggy