Posted by daisym on September 17, 2004, at 20:56:37
In reply to Re: Can't believe my T cancelled today!, posted by Passerby on September 17, 2004, at 19:02:21
Ouch, Passerby, I feel like we hit a nerve somehow.
I want to try to present what I feel about babble in a totally non-defensive way, if possible. I wrote a post a while ago (it's been months) that was essentially a letter to a therapist explaining why anyone would find a board like this useful. But I can't find it so I'll try again here.
Things you need to know about me that might be relevant: I'm a little over 40, married, have three teenagers, one who is in college and live in the suburbs. I run a nonprofit for disabled children. I'm what they call "high functioning" even with depression and PTSD. I run all over the state training groups of people and speaking at conventions, etc. I consider myself smart, logical, organized and a complete realist. (OK, so I'm a Pollyanna about the little kids of the world, but still.)
So, to find myself in therapy 16 months ago because I was seriously suicidal was shocking. Oh, I guess I forgot to mention that my husband is pretty seriously ill. His illness, combined with running a company and being super-mom just wiped me out. Therapy was a huge challenge for me because I have always been a "stand on your own two feet" kind of gal. It was such a problem that I started searching for information about the "right" way to "do" therapy. I wanted to make sure I knew everything so my therapist didn't pull anything on me I wasn't ready for. I researched everything I could. The one thing I couldn't find in my research was anyone talking about the intensity of feelings for your therapist. And I thought I was just nuts...especially after I started talking about my childhood and all these different ages were popping up with memories. And then I found Babble.Without being able to express what I was confused about here, as honestly as I dare, I think I would have quit therapy. Because I finally found a group of people here who said, "Yup, feeling like that is normal. Here is how I handled it."
I wish more people had this level of honest support. We all swing back and forth between trying to honestly sort stuff out and get answers to just needed to vent and get support. Sometimes it works better than other times. Sometimes it has even been hostile. But for the most part, if you don't agree with someone or you don't have anything to add, you just don't respond to the post. We aren't trying to fix each other. And sometimes we offer reality checks in a supportive way.
I hope you can find something you can relate to here. There are often threads about articles or philosophies or practical applications of certain techniques. Maybe these will appeal to you. I agree with Dinah though, if you share a little about yourself and/or ask questions you would like answered, you will get so much out of this board. I'm continually impressed with the brain power here. Not to mention the compassion.
It is always nice to have new voices. I hope you feel welcome and not like a newbie for very long.
poster:daisym
thread:388031
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20040911/msgs/392150.html