Posted by llrrrpp on August 30, 2006, at 21:24:38
In reply to Re: Self-Esteem suffering from depression recovery » llrrrpp, posted by Phillipa on August 30, 2006, at 20:49:10
Wow Phillipa,
I think T should try to understand past, because it influences today and the future too. The best predictor of someone's future behavior is how they behaved in the past in similar circumstances...Have you ever worked with a T that had a psychodynamic approach?
My T uses a lot of different strategies. He's been avoiding any CBT work. I think I'm starting to understand why. I bet that if I set myself up with little exercises to do, and I don't do them, I will feel worse than if I had no therapy at all.
I appreciate how T interprets my interactions with other people too. Sometimes he'll point out a motive for how someone acted that didn't even occur to me. MANY times he has totally figured out someone's strengths and weaknesses based on my sketchy description. And while the best T cannot change the facts of our past, they can help us understand our role in it, and how it might affect our relationships and dreams today. But, that's the kind of work that takes a bit of time-- and it's not fun at all. (see my post on psychology board.
http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20060826/msgs/681576.html
here's one of the responses.I don't know how much you can invest in this kind of therapy, but I think that it has really helped me. The drugs made the therapy more bearable, and made me want to stick around for a while. Maybe I got a little more motivation. But I think that the therapy has actually made me figure out better ways of reacting to things, interpreting other people's behavior, and ultimately changing my own beliefs about myself.
It's not going to change who you are, but T might help you make a better selection from the possibilities of who you can be.
That sounds like a bunch of hooey from a therapy addict. Well. give it a shot. it can't hurt any more than crippling depression and anxiety, right? Plus, you have so much energy to do the biking and the psychobabble. I think you'd do well with a therapist that takes some time to get to know you.
-ll
poster:llrrrpp
thread:681528
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/esteem/20060827/msgs/681618.html