Which therapies and treatments have worked best for your sa?

[Loudog]

I don't know if this thread's been on here already, but I was wondering whats worked best for your sa and how long have you been doing it. What can I expect seeing a Psychologist for the first time.

 

[dottie]

just expect to sit in a room and talk about your problems. often times they delve deep into your background and bring up painful memories you don't like to think about on a daily basis so they can assess where you're coming from. that usually happens during the first week or so. you might cry.

a good therapist will throw solutions at you and really work on attempting to solve the problems. other therapists will just listen to you rant away until they let you know you're out of time. that's not really going to help you make progress.

i guess CBT is the most effective treatment in my experience.

 

[Joan6466]

Congratulations on your risk-taking; you've posed a question, you're seeing a therapist- you're breaking through paralysis which sure can happen with sa. I,agree, I think the behavioral/cognitve approach is very effective; sometimes medications can help calm the physiological arousal that accompanies sa, which gives the behavioral/cognitive therapies time to work. Also, hopefully your psychologist will coach you on social situations, so he/she can incorporate relaxation techniques, speech communication and healthier thoughts when you're increasing social risk-taking. It's very important that you always honor the attempts that you make to break through sa- in the beginning there's always more mental chatter that perfectionistically critiques all you say and do- and learning to counter that by praising yourself, pulling out the behaviors that you attempted starts to counter that monitor which lays the groundwork for cognitive change. Best wishes to you!

 

[LadyWench]

Nothing, so far. The only thing that has helped me, for the most part, is medication. And I'm against medication. I hope you can find some help, though. We all deserve a chance at a normal life. I think the main reason therapy hasn't worked for me, is because the "therapists" here are all trash. They don't know what they're doing, and are pretty much only capable of treating someone with a drug problem. Which I don't have.

 

[Danedo]

Meds help with depression/anxiety.

CBT to help with thoughts.

That is really it for me.

 

[sevenroses]

I heard that CBT and meds are the best combo. That's if you need the meds.

 

[Hannes]

I think it is best to limit the meds as much as possible and to try to keep it natural.