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I am meant to feel..
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
..so pants after counselling sessions? it seems to happen every time i try to go.
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I prefer CBT for this reason. I came out of each session feeling better, more able to cope and more functional.
I have CBT and at the beginning I felt the same way - you are dragging up complicated and painful emotions and that's not easy. But keep at it; soon as you begin to work through some of your issues you will feel like a weight is lifted each time you leave.
Hopefully though, it will make a difference and nobody else will suggest that i go again.
I 've had CBT before in group therapy, and it was good, but i felt the time was right for a more one to one type of therapy.
I am having counselling at the moment. On occasion I come out feeling like I might have a nervous breakdown. It takes me a day or two to kind of filter through and file away everything I have discussed in that session before I feel better.
I think I am having combined therapy as we don't seem to have any set pattern but use lots of different methodologies to work through my issues depending on what it is. I have a LOT of issues, culminating in me being a nervous wreck generally.
I think it is best to work at it. You might find it gets harder before it gets easier due to lots of repressed thoughts and experiences coming out. Once you get through it, you might find you wonder why you even questioned it.
I totally get how you feel!
It takes time. You've only been to three sessions.
I understand what you all mean, and of course i'll give it more time. thanks for your comments. if you still have something you want to share i don't mind reading it.
I admit now that I am prejudiced against counselling, because I had a very negative experience of it. And I think perhaps there are some people who it could work for, it just so happens that I am not one of them.
But my perspective on it is this. If you have some deep-seated problems that are rooted in your past or your childhood, that you haven't yet fully dealt with or moved on from, then perhaps talking to a counsellor, working through them and finding out what those issues are, is a good idea.
Similarly, if you are someone who has emotional issues that you aren't fully aware of, because you don't have a high degree of insight or self-awareness into why you feel the way you do, then perhaps counselling can help to bring to light those problems and be a useful step in moving on from them.
But for me, neither of those were true. I didn't have any unresolved issues from my past or my childhood. I didn't want to talk about my relationship with my parents, my siblings, not because it was painful or difficult for me, but just because I felt it was irrelevant. I just have some bad habits and negative patterns of thought and behaviour which I need some help to deal with, some strategies for coping with when they arise, so they don't knock me off my feet.
But all my counsellor wanted to do was get me to talk about my childhood, my relationship with my siblings, sad memories from my past. And yeah, if you get me to dwell on sad things that have happened in the past, then you'll upset me and make me cry. But so what? I got the impression she felt she was doing something amazing, breaking through some barriers by making me upset, that she was some kind of amazing healer. But I just found it destructive, it made me feel worse, not better, and told me nothing about myself that I didn't already know.
Hey Nutter,
Sounds like an interesting and valuable conversation from all on the subject of counselling which many people find so difficult, its great to see everyone be so open with their experiences whether positive or challenging of counselling. Hopefully others reading this thread will gain some knowledge on the subject.
Counselling is a very individual experience for everyone from the type counselling, to the length of time of the counselling to your relationship with your counsellor.
As you will know from your sessions you are in control of what you bring and dont bring to the sessions. It maybe worth exploring with your counsellor how your feeling. Your counsellor maybe able to suggest or facilitate ways through this difficult time.
Dont feel bad for feeling rubbish, counselling isnt easy so well done for being proactive in looking after your health.
let us know how your getting on:wave:
Yes i suppose it is a proactive thing.. I couldn't face going in the midst of what felt like a near nervous breakdown, but now some time has passed i can really think clearly about things.
I attended again today. I left feeling better than last time. Maybe it was something to do with him doing most of the talking, or maybe it was meeting up with a good friend afterwards. Who knows. Either way it seems that this may have ups and downs, but i'm determined to keep going for a bit longer.