Will be assigned a new therapist next week. What questions can I ask my therapist?

[Whitney Edwards]

I'll be assigned a new therapist next week. I was diagnosed with CPTSD a year ago. What questions can I ask my therapist during the session? Thanks in advance. 

[El Zapato]

Ask if a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound...  

I suppose your experience was much more intense than mine...But I found the best therapy for me was to just talk about it. How it happened, and feelings such as guilt were important to me.

 

[Whitney Edwards]

@El Zapato ok

[Someone here]

@Buck Edwards well i know nothing about that illness but just two cents .

preety..i dont think you are mentally ill . You are incredibly intelligent person .how fast you write walls of well thought out posts is just sensational .

I do think tho that you are oppressed romantically . You need a bf . 😬

 are you sure you are mentally ill or just being authentic and why is authenticity isn't  favored over mental illness? Who's to say whether authenticity is mental illness? In the end..it becomes obvious that all categories must collapse and that none of them is actually true . You are not what you think you are. 

But getting to your question you should ask your new therapist for advice on:

1-sexual and romantic oppression. 

2-your so called mental illness . If you need certain medication. 

3-suicidal thoughts (since you have suffered from that a lot in the past).

good luck 🤞.

[Whitney Edwards]

@Someone here thank you. 

[Sucuk Ekmek]

Wow now 10 syllables !

Complex post-traumatic stress disorder

 

[Ulax]

For me it would depend on what type of therapy you are doing.

Also, do you mean that you are being assigned a specific therapist? Or that you are being assigned a therapist but you re doing consultations, and get to choose your therapist based on those consults?

[Whitney Edwards]

3 minutes ago, Ulax said:

For me it would depend on what type of therapy you are doing.

Also, do you mean that you are being assigned a specific therapist? Or that you are being assigned a therapist but you re doing consultations, and get to choose your therapist based on those consults?

I assigned myself a CBT therapist for complex trauma. I don't know how to proceed with the therapy or how I can extract the best out of every session. My first session is booked after a few days. 

[Ulax]

@Buck Edwards I see. Are you familiar with CBT?

[Whitney Edwards]

Just now, Ulax said:

@Buck Edwards I see. Are you familiar with CBT?

Not at all. This will be the first time I will be given such a therapy. I have no idea what CBT feels like. 

[Ulax]

@Buck Edwards Ah I see.

I've studied CBT quite a few times, and done some myself. Here is my understanding:

A first key idea is that you can significantly resolve many mental health issues by challenging and replacing irrational thoughts.

A second key idea  is that the emotions we feel are determined strongly by what thoughts we have.

Here is how is see the cbt process:

- Firstly, you identify your automatic thoughts.

- Secondly, you examine how rational they are. You'll learn a series of common types of irrational thinking, i.e. ignoring the positive, magnification. And maybe, identify some evidence for and against the thought being true.

- Thirdly, based on your examination, you replace these irrational thoughts with more rational ones.

- Fourthly, you repeatedly challenge and replace these irrational thoughts over a period of time. 

The result of this process is that your automatic thoughts change and become more rational.

As a consequence, your emotions will be intense when it is reasonable for them to be intense, i.e. being chased by a bear. And, they will not be intense when they don't need to be, i.e. everyday social interactions. And, therefore, you will have made great progress in overcoming your mental health symptoms.

Example

1. Identify: "Chickens are evil" 

2. Examine: Ignoring the positive (Chickens can also engage in pro-social behaviors where they look after their mates), All or nothing thinking (Chickens maybe do some bad things sometimes, but not all the time), personification (Just because someone or something does evil behaviors does not make them inherently evil)

3. Replacement thought: Chickens engage in a variety of good and evil actions.

4. When you notice the automatic thought of 'chickens are evil' arise again, you repeat your replacement thought.

Hope that helps .

Edited September 22, 2024 by Ulax

[Whitney Edwards]

39 minutes ago, Ulax said:

@Buck Edwards Ah I see.

I've studied CBT quite a few times, and done some myself. Here is my understanding:

A first key idea is that you can significantly resolve many mental health issues by challenging and replacing irrational thoughts.

A second key idea  is that the emotions we feel are determined strongly by what thoughts we have.

Here is how is see the cbt process:

- Firstly, you identify your automatic thoughts.

- Secondly, you examine how rational they are. You'll learn a series of common types of irrational thinking, i.e. ignoring the positive, magnification. And maybe, identify some evidence for and against the thought being true.

- Thirdly, based on your examination, you replace these irrational thoughts with more rational ones.

- Fourthly, you repeatedly challenge and replace these irrational thoughts over a period of time. 

The result of this process is that your automatic thoughts change and become more rational.

As a consequence, your emotions will be intense when it is reasonable for them to be intense, i.e. being chased by a bear. And, they will not be intense when they don't need to be, i.e. everyday social interactions. And, therefore, you will have made great progress in overcoming your mental health symptoms.

Example

1. Identify: "Chickens are evil" 

2. Examine: Ignoring the positive (Chickens can also engage in pro-social behaviors where they look after their mates), All or nothing thinking (Chickens maybe do some bad things sometimes, but not all the time), personification (Just because someone or something does evil behaviors does not make them inherently evil)

3. Replacement thought: Chickens engage in a variety of good and evil actions.

4. When you notice the automatic thought of 'chickens are evil' arise again, you repeat your replacement thought.

Hope that helps .

Thanks

[Princess Arabia]

13 hours ago, Ulax said:

@Buck Edwards Ah I see.

I've studied CBT quite a few times, and done some myself. Here is my understanding:

A first key idea is that you can significantly resolve many mental health issues by challenging and replacing irrational thoughts.

A second key idea  is that the emotions we feel are determined strongly by what thoughts we have.

Here is how is see the cbt process:

- Firstly, you identify your automatic thoughts.

- Secondly, you examine how rational they are. You'll learn a series of common types of irrational thinking, i.e. ignoring the positive, magnification. And maybe, identify some evidence for and against the thought being true.

- Thirdly, based on your examination, you replace these irrational thoughts with more rational ones.

- Fourthly, you repeatedly challenge and replace these irrational thoughts over a period of time. 

The result of this process is that your automatic thoughts change and become more rational.

As a consequence, your emotions will be intense when it is reasonable for them to be intense, i.e. being chased by a bear. And, they will not be intense when they don't need to be, i.e. everyday social interactions. And, therefore, you will have made great progress in overcoming your mental health symptoms.

Example

1. Identify: "Chickens are evil" 

2. Examine: Ignoring the positive (Chickens can also engage in pro-social behaviors where they look after their mates), All or nothing thinking (Chickens maybe do some bad things sometimes, but not all the time), personification (Just because someone or something does evil behaviors does not make them inherently evil)

3. Replacement thought: Chickens engage in a variety of good and evil actions.

4. When you notice the automatic thought of 'chickens are evil' arise again, you repeat your replacement thought.

Hope that helps .

This is why I usually stress to people with these types of issues that it's about the thoughts. This kind of therapy seems to be effective since it targets this with the procedures mentioned. Sometimes the mind loves complications and people don't give enough credit to the simplicities of certain solutions. The idea of just noticing one's thoughts and rearranging them or whatever you said above seems too simple to be effective on what they believe to be such a complex problem they're having. 

It's a mental Universe and everything starts with this. It's all you, the way you think, your perceptions and your core identity.

[Ulax]

8 hours ago, Princess Arabia said:

This is why I usually stress to people with these types of issues that it's about the thoughts. This kind of therapy seems to be effective since it targets this with the procedures mentioned. Sometimes the mind loves complications and people don't give enough credit to the simplicities of certain solutions. The idea of just noticing one's thoughts and rearranging them or whatever you said above seems too simple to be effective on what they believe to be such a complex problem they're having. 

It's a mental Universe and everything starts with this. It's all you, the way you think, your perceptions and your core identity.

Yeah i certainly find your point interesting. I can certainly relate to the idea of thinkin it is too simple to be effective.

Have you ever come across the work by byron katie?

[El Zapato]

you will quickly discover if CBT is for you and possibly the true depth of the trauma.  With good fortune, you will find out you are not that deep into it. And remember, therapy is painful and it likely will not be until later that you are better... Good luck!

[Princess Arabia]

9 hours ago, Ulax said:

Have you ever come across the work by byron katie?

No I haven't; but I've heard of her and seen a few of her videos before.

[Ulax]

@Princess Arabia Ah, I think you'd really like it.