Archive for Psychology
May 16, 2009 at 11:51 pm · Filed under Coping strategies, healing, My Stories and tagged: coping mechanisms, Good Karma, Psychology
Hello All,
Thank you all for your public and private expressions of support for my trip last week. It’s (terminally) difficult for me to reach out for help, but you overwhelmed me with support – yo Cami wow Emily, you are real and people care for you.
Really. (jaw drop)
I went through a really tough time preparing, and have reflected on the outcome to learn. And you know what? **Nods** It worked. I did it! **Smile**
In this post, I want to thank you all. And I also want to talk about the trip, what happened, what surprises worked, and some takeaways for me and perhaps for you on challenging situations.
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April 20, 2009 at 7:13 pm · Filed under Mental Health, Therapy and Treatment, Understanding DID and tagged: diagnosis, DID, dissociative identity disorder, healing, Psychology, therapy, Therapy and Treatment
Elysium3000 left a comment elsewhere on the blog about her frustrations getting a diagnosis, therapist’s opinions/beliefs about dissociative disorders, and the fear of being outed. Since her fears are so common and I’ve written on some of this before, let’s try and work through these issues again. Since my feelings and subsequent research got a little long, I’m splitting this into a few posts.
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December 29, 2008 at 7:25 pm · Filed under Goddess of Brilliance and Wonder, Personal Musings, Therapy and Treatment and tagged: Personal Musings, Psychology, revelations, therapy, Therapy and Treatment
It’s all “Part of the Process.”
I was completely unfamiliar with that phrase until therapist #1. After 6 months with her, I was thoroughly disgusted with the phrase. Perhaps because no one could define “The Process” in terms I could accept. This magical concept that I, a PhD trained engineer, was apparently completely ill-equipped to deal with.
<And friends and neighbors, let’s throw in the completely obligatory ” fck that” right about HERE.>
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December 6, 2008 at 11:34 pm · Filed under Mental Health, My Stories, Personal Musings, Therapy and Treatment and tagged: crappy economy, healing, job search, Psychology, self-worth, therapy, Therapy and Treatment
Hello everyone – I wanted to say I have been caught up in job stuff. I am looking for a job, I think I mentioned, and have been at it nearly constantly. I know I need to take breaks, but I have been excited about some of the progress and don’t want to lose steam. Since our economy sucks here in the United States, it is especially hard. But I have a few phone interviews coming up, and everyone says that is great.
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November 24, 2008 at 9:25 am · Filed under Mental Health, My Stories, Understanding DID and tagged: diagnosis, DID, dissociative identity disorder, MPD, multiple personality disorder, Psychology, Understanding DID
My parents, scared, took me to a therapist a few years after I was attacked as a teen – I had periods of sadness, complete numbness, intense joy and escape in music. And interspersed, periods of irrationality. I found out later I really scared my friends with my mental constructs. I had some sense that my thoughts and actions were very wrong but I was dragged bodily on a roller coaster with no sense of time or space. I didn’t even ponder where the compulsion and agitation came from – I was just there, on a mission to accomplish something I didn’t truly understand and was powerless to control.
The first therapist told my mother that she thought it might be schizophrenia. My mother tells me it drove her on a secret feverish hunt to learn all she could about the frightening disease.
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November 17, 2008 at 4:18 pm · Filed under Mental Health, multiple personality disorder, My Stories, Personal Musings, Therapy and Treatment, Understanding DID and tagged: alters, DID, dissociation, dissociative identity disorder, MPD, multiple personality disorder, Psychology, self-worth, switching, Therapy and Treatment, triggers
Recently, I scheduled consultation interviews with two therapists, hoping one would be the “one.” Good news – I found her! Bad news, the other therapist has not a clue. You already know how that session started and ended – with the surreal therapy room and therapy menagerie. I promised to follow up about the consultation itself. This post is much less fun. It will piss you off.
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October 29, 2008 at 6:26 pm · Filed under Comments, Personal Musings, Understanding DID and tagged: alters, DID, dissociative identity disorder, emotional numbing, Psychology, PTSD, recovery, therapy, triggers, Understanding DID
HF and I started a conversation with a few posts, and we agreed to continue the point/counterpoint discussion. I think it’s cool to talk about severe dissociation with someone who doesn’t believe in it, but who is willing to give it a good think, so to speak.
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October 15, 2008 at 1:07 pm · Filed under Comments, Information, Mental Health, Reviews, Surveys and Info, Therapy and Treatment, Understanding DID and tagged: Psychology, revelations, therapy, Therapy and Treatment
I have read several surveys that have enlightened me, made me laugh, given me pause, and comforted me that we all share so many common elements in our quest for wellness.
Our experiences with therapists or counselors has been a big source of conversation lately.
Behind the Couch took a survey about this. She hopes that “other clients ….will appreciate reading about [our] experiences“
She also hopes that “therapists will read this and take something … they can use to better meet their clients’ needs.“
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August 8, 2008 at 5:15 pm · Filed under Mental Health, Reviews and tagged: diagnosis, Psychology, therapy
I tripped across a site called “The Lives They Left Behind: Suitcases from a State Hospital Attic.”
The Willard Psychiatric Center closed in 1995 after 127 years of operation. When staff members tried to preserve historic artifacts, they tripped upon a hidden door that contained nearly 400 suitcases of institutionalized patients who had died in the center, never able to reclaim their belongings and return home. Whose families were never found. In this online exhibit, the history and also the contents of 9 suitcases are displayed and the individuals honored.
I cried.
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Older entries »
“Let’s pretend” – a First Step in “I” becoming “We”
October 29, 2008 at 6:26 pm · Filed under Comments, Personal Musings, Understanding DID and tagged: alters, DID, dissociative identity disorder, emotional numbing, Psychology, PTSD, recovery, therapy, triggers, Understanding DID
HF and I started a conversation with a few posts, and we agreed to continue the point/counterpoint discussion. I think it’s cool to talk about severe dissociation with someone who doesn’t believe in it, but who is willing to give it a good think, so to speak.
Read the rest of this entry »
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