# Has anyone HAD success with therapy?



## insaticiable (Feb 23, 2010)

I know that a couple of members on here have had a difficult time finding a good therapist who specializes in dissociative disorders, DP/DR, etc. But my question is to those who are in therapy right now and having success with it thus far. What kind of therapy is it, and does it target specific DP symptoms? Overall, do you feel that it is helping you become better, and teaching you how to cope with this condition better?

The reason I ask is because I am already in therapy, working with a therapist/psychiatrist who specializes in Borderline Personality Disorder, but feel that my DP is not being addressed or treated successfully. I want to ask you guys if you think that going to another doctor who specifically works with DP is a good idea or not. My current doctor says that she has had patients with depersonalization in the past, and that they have gotten better, but i struggle with trust issues, meaning i dont really believe her. And sometimes i feel as if she isnt really trained enough in helping me tackle this new and existing problem. What do i do? Continue to work with the therapist that i have now (the program that im in runs till July of this year), or seek a second opinion from another trained professional who has great knowledge and years of experience with DP?


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## Guest (Mar 19, 2010)

insaticiable said:


> I know that a couple of members on here have had a difficult time finding a good therapist who specializes in dissociative disorders, DP/DR, etc. But my question is to those who are in therapy right now and having success with it thus far. What kind of therapy is it, and does it target specific DP symptoms? Overall, do you feel that it is helping you become better, and teaching you how to cope with this condition better?
> 
> The reason I ask is because I am already in therapy, working with a therapist/psychiatrist who specializes in Borderline Personality Disorder, but feel that my DP is not being addressed or treated successfully. I want to ask you guys if you think that going to another doctor who specifically works with DP is a good idea or not. My current doctor says that she has had patients with depersonalization in the past, and that they have gotten better, but i struggle with trust issues, meaning i dont really believe her. And sometimes i feel as if she isnt really trained enough in helping me tackle this new and existing problem. What do i do? Continue to work with the therapist that i have now (the program that im in runs till July of this year), or seek a second opinion from another trained professional who has great knowledge and years of experience with DP?


I think you realize how hard pressed you are going to be to find someone who has years of experience dealing with dp. I have only run across two people in the medical field who even knew what it was. Even at that, they didnt know about it as much as had just heard of it. There are probably one of two things happening here. One, that she does have knowledge of how treat dp but progress isnt happening as fast as you would like so you are doubting her or two, she doesnt know how to treat it.
I think the first option might be the case and it might take you coming to terms with a timetable for recovery.


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## Ivan Hawk (Jan 22, 2010)

I've had a lot more success with talk therapy through non-professionals, but then again I've only gone to 3 professionals in my life and they were all just not good at all lol. I could have just had some bad luck with finding decent professionals, but I just couldn't open with them. The first was extremely shy psychologist and the help just didn't feel very important and realistic. The 2nd was a business-only psychiatrist that most obviously didn't try very hard to discuss the problems but merely wanted to prescribe something and get me outta there with 2 minute sessions that just made me feel worse lol. Ah and the 3rd was probably better than the first too, he's a campus psychologist I saw a few times for all kinds of things, but even then I was pretty anxious and didn't feel the same comfort I felt when talking to other people. I've felt most comfortable around all kinds of people, but just haven't found a professional I could feel that same comfort with yet. If I could, that would be amazing and I'd probably be getting some seriously accurate and beneficial advice.

So yeah, push yourself to try for some small clubs or meet-ups between like-minded people and just see how it goes. Even with anxiety, they help atleast break the anxiety with talking to people. From my experience, having time periods of heavy social activity really changed a part of my brain that incorporated anxiety with socializing to the point of where socializing literally has the opposite effect now of days and boosts my spirits most of the time.


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## Sigurros (May 5, 2010)

Hi.
I think that you are noticing that she isnt paying much attention to the DP, and so it feels like it is not being treated. Perhaps she is treating it, by treating the *cause* of it. If DP is caused by trauma or negative self-image, then she will focus on those thing, which in itself is treating the DP. I don't think that there is any other way to treat it when using talk therapy in my opinion. I hope you know what I mean. I think you should tell her your worries at least before changing therapist.


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## Rebekah (May 16, 2009)

Sigurros said:


> Hi.
> I think that you are noticing that she isnt paying much attention to the DP, and so it feels like it is not being treated. Perhaps she is treating it, by treating the *cause* of it. If DP is caused by trauma or negative self-image, then she will focus on those thing, which in itself is treating the DP. I don't think that there is any other way to treat it when using talk therapy in my opinion. I hope you know what I mean. I think you should tell her your worries at least before changing therapist.


I agree with this post. I certainly have been helped by getting counseling by the right therapist who is familiar with causes of dissociative disorders. I was blessed to get counseling by a Psychiatrist with lots of experience. He did understand that my intense focus on the DP was masking my inability to face more troubling emotions of parental abuse. Unfortunately he is retired now or I would recommend him to everyone on this forum. I would say, at least, give some counselor you have some rapport with a chance to talk with you about your issues. Not so great counseling is better than none, in my opinion.


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## Rogue Bullies (Jun 1, 2010)

I have only gone a few times, but I think over all it helps me and she is helping me to understand why I feel this way and what I can do to change it. If you keep your feelings bottled up they have to come out sometime so its super good to talk about them even if its not to a professional. I like going, but I really like my therapist as well and she helped me find a good doctor to see.


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## dpsince2002 (Oct 26, 2008)

Working with possible underlying causes has been helping me, too, I think. I've been to maybe 8 different therapists since this started, and the one that I'm working with now is helping me to focus on my day to day life, which helps my anxiety, which seems pretty tied to my dp. I would love the chance to work with a therapist specializing in it, though. I've gotten everything from "you've had a psychotic break with reality" to "what you're going through is called developmental stage change," with a lot of OCD in between. Some or all of that might be true, but it would be nice not to have to educate my therapists about what they're treating me for







.


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## Synergyabc (Oct 11, 2010)

I was seeing a therapist and felt a little relief here and there but nothing that would relieve the DP. Then I went to see a Hypnotherapist and in 1 session he actually helped me realize that DP is in everyone and designed to help them, but found that the crap in my past just made me a master at being DP. Its actually the here and now that is causing my DP. I am chosing to listen to the negitive voices which in turn made my life a very miserable place to be. Every positive thing that I would try to do came with negitive voices. This has caused my DP to kick in overdrive because my mind see's my life as a threat. I shut them up and chose to listen to the positive ones 3 days ago and I am now at 40% better! I laugh, sing, dance, play with my kids and even forget through periods of each day that the DP is still there. I would suggest to every one to listen to them selves before they do a task and chose to listen to the positve, try to embrace what it is that you need to do instead of fight it. Do this to everything for one day and see if you start feeling relief. If you do, then do it again and again, until your mind no longer sees your life as a threat. Even something as simple as doing the dishes. Instead of thinking wow, this is a mess and making yourself go through the motions when you really dont want to do it. Say out loud, the kitchen looks so much better and clean when the dishes are done, maybe I will disinfect the counter tops too because it makes it smell so fresh and clean in here. After your done take a good look at the clean fresh smelling kitchen. Look around and FIND THE POSITIVE IN EVERYTHING FOR ONE DAY! Then do it again and again.... I have been doing this and my DP is leaving, I can feel it in my bones!


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## BlackParasol (Nov 25, 2010)

I had my best success with a cognitive therapist when I was in my teens. Let me mention ahead of time though that back then my DP really wasn't severe and only bothered me from time to time, so most of the problems I addressed with my cognitive therapist dealt with anxiety, paranoia, obsessiveness, and dependency issues.

I do think though that anxiety, obsessiveness, and DP/DR have a lot to do with each other.

Now, my therapy _failures_ revolve around several psychiatrists. I'm not saying medicine doesn't help, because it does, but I don't believe it addresses the whole problem. Medication can keep you calm, but I believe in dealing with anxiety especially, you also need to change your way of thinking before you can start to truly feel better, and that's what cognitive therapy does. The cognitive therapist observes your behaviors, and instead of wasting time telling you why you behave that way, they start helping you find ways to change it. My therapist was with me every step, telling me things like, "You need to focus on you," and teaching me how to take care of myself. She would talk with me about my behaviors, then help me find new ways to think about myself and my problems. She helped re-train my brain, so to speak.

I'm not in therapy right now and haven't been for a while (though, I want to be, very badly). But I do think it's an excellent idea to give cognitive therapy a try - my cognitive therapist Jinny saved me from going absolutely insane during that time of my life, and I still employ a lot of the things she taught me today. I wish you the best of luck.


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## snow storm (Aug 10, 2010)

BlackParasol said:


> I had my best success with a cognitive therapist when I was in my teens. Let me mention ahead of time though that back then my DP really wasn't severe and only bothered me from time to time, so most of the problems I addressed with my cognitive therapist dealt with anxiety, paranoia, obsessiveness, and dependency issues.
> 
> I do think though that anxiety, obsessiveness, and DP/DR have a lot to do with each other.
> 
> ...


I've been a bit skeptic about CBT because of what I have thought of as a lack of holistic approach, but I have found it more and more interesting recently. I think a lot could be helped by changig dysfunctional thought patterns, I know I have a couple of them when it comes to how I relate to other people. 
I have tried gestalt therapy which was quite helpful (but also quite expensive) and psychoanalytic therapy, and I'd say the gestalt therapy helped the most. There are many ways to Rome though. I think you'll have most success with what you feel most comfortable doing and it depends on your personality.


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