Skip to main content

Therapy... Is it really good to talk?

Before I wrote this post I did a lot of research into the topic of therapy, mainly because although I know an awful lot about psychology and why we might feel or react in a certain kind of way, I have no personal experience of being the other side of the desk so to speak. 

Most of my support work in schools centred around CBT (cognitive behaviour therapy) which I have to say, worked incredibly well for most of the students I worked with. 

CBT focusses on challenging and changing cognitive behaviours, improving a persons ability to regulate emotions and teaching them to develop and use personal coping strategies. It is based on the concept that your thoughts, feelings and actions are inter-connected and that negative thoughts and feelings can trap you in a vicious cycle. 

My initial response to my own anxiety was to go down the CBT route; so at first I tried recording my thoughts and feelings each day (journaling) to see if I could find out what was triggering my low mood and anxiety. Unfortunately I was unable to identify my own trigger.

Anxiety is only easily managed if you know what it is you are anxious about and I simply did not.

I could be perfectly fine all day long, have a relatively good day and yet still go to bed only to be sucker punched by an enormous panic attack or an overwhelming fear of something horrific happening. I could not even begin to understand why it was happening or how to control it but it had such a negative impact on my life and my recovery. 

Following a telephone assessment with a Personal Wellbeing Practitioner - who was incredibly kind and understanding - I have been placed on a 6 month long waiting list for counselling. Something which I am somewhat sceptical but still open to trying. 

When I put questions about therapy out there on my Instagram account the replies I got really surprised me; most people said that therapy did not help them in the slightest. The responses came from victims of domestic violence, people with anxiety and people who have conquered substance based addictions. Those people did however, send some brilliant suggestions for things I could try such as ASMR. 

I am looking forward to trialling new methods of anxiety management, counselling included, and sharing my experiences with you. 💜

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Alternative Methods for Recovery

  When I was first visited by my Occupational Therapist she gave me a list of activities and exercises I could do to improve the strength in my affected hand. She gave me some resistance bands and some 'Theraputty' and a page of instructions and left me to it.  I got bored of these incredibly quickly and started searching for ways I could incorporate these exercises into different activities that would hold my interest for longer.  It was Lee who noticed an advert on Facebook for diamond art pictures, he thought that the level of concentration and fine motor skills it required would help with my spasticity on my affected side. He was right, I was instantly hooked. For weeks I sat in bed with a tray on my lap putting thousands of tiny gem stones on pictures and creating beautiful (if a little wonky) works of art... I mean I'm not about to frame them and put them on the walls in my front room any time soon but they were fun to do.  I also took an interest in colouring ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Happy New Year - 2022

Firstly, I want to apologise for the lack of posts for the last few months; I have really struggled to pull myself out of the  rut I was stuck in if I am completely honest. Secondly, and most importantly, I came to wish each and every one of my readers a very happy New Year; may 2022 bring you all health, wealth and happiness.   
1 comment
Read more

It's all my fault

  As soon as my diagnosis hit I was inundated with letters and calls for appointments with various doctors and specialists.  A stroke in someone so young raises red flags for things such as small holes in the heart which can allow clots to pass through and end up causing a stroke. So ultimately the hospital will do every test possible, cover every base, until they find something that may potentially show up as a reason for stroke.  Now, as I mentioned before, I've got a really irrational fear of hospitals and anything related to them, needles mainly. So this wasn't good news for me.  The first things I had done were simple things, I was fitted with a blood pressure monitor for 24 hours, after that I had a heart monitor for 7 days to check for an irregular heartbeat, I had endless blood tests, I had 2 echocardiograms, I had ultrasounds on my neck and chest...At one point I was visiting the hospital at least once a week for something or other.  However, in my case...
Post a Comment
Read more