Hello @Oaktree
Well, today I've been very busy using my fingers on the keyboard. Gosh, my memory is so slippery that I even forget where I've been. I looked at my profile and apart from your “Introduction” thread, I have also been busy on a couple of others. They are:
https://saneforums.org/t5/Welcome-getting-started/Are-We-Safe-Considering-and-Discussing-Alternative-Points-of/m-p/1090830#M3291
and
https://saneforums.org/t5/Looking-after-ourselves/corona-corroding-relationships/m-p/1090497#M84749
Now, if you happen to look at them, I can't promise you a session of light reading, but I hope that they are interesting. The difficulty on the forum is that any comment has a fairly short “half-life”, and so, for the most part, is only relevant for a day or so. Consequently, I think, that is the reason that comments on many threads, are generally fairly short.
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However, Most of my conversations are with specific people, and for courtesy reasons, I most often do not add forum addresses of other people. That is, unless I am intending the message to go to a wider range of people, generally on a topic of broader interest.
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As you are aware, from our discussions, I am not overly fond of one or two sentence replies to a post. A recent post, to a question that was answered by a number of members with 1 or 2 line Yes/No answers, took me about two A4 pages. But I hope that my response covered the possible scenarios that the person may have been addressing, but about which they had not given any other details. In fact the question was ludicrously light on detail. However, I do hope that my response gave that person sufficient information to enable them to make a relatively well informed decision, with other options for seeking additional relevant information. That response was to:
https://saneforums.org/t5/Our-stories/Question/m-p/1089923#M219745
I believe, if its worth giving a response, that it should be as complete as possible.
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Question, do you know about looking up a profile on this site?
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I don't think that you should be nervous about ringing your psych. I think that you have considered where you are at, and where you want to be. If you can convey that, I think that your future conversations will be productive. Maybe, hopefully, what I talked about in a previous message, about looking at the situation from the psych's perspective, may have been useful. It may also allow you to feel empathy for their position.
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From your comment that “I need to put last week in the past and not let it colour our therapeutic relationship.....” It seems that you, while still retaining some sense of trepidation, are somewhat more confident about your position. I would suggest that you ask your psych to help you relax. It is very difficult to approach issues when you are tense. May I also suggest that you actually challenge yourself to deal with the worst first. Once the worst situation is dealt with, there is likely to be a quicker resolution of other issues. However, the other issues can become the fortress barrier to dealing with the issue of greatest concern, and become your means of resistance and defence against dealing with that, about which you are most concerned. Another maladaptive strategy.
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If it is of any assistance, I am happy for you to take a printed copy of any, or all of the responses that I have written to you, to the appointment. You may just leave what you take in your bag, for security, or you might decide to ask the psych to read whatever you wish to offer. Sometimes having something with you just helps you through the process.
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I rather blurted out my major concern to the counsellor, with whom I am speaking. That occurred at about the same age as the incident to which you have referred. I am not sure if I have told you about that incident. But we may cross that bridge together, if you felt that it might assist you in dealing with any issue or issues.
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Today, for me, has been a day where I have felt somewhat unsettled about my situation. Recollecting that five years ago, driving a truck, a skid-steer loader and operating a concrete cutting machine, to break-up a large demolished house foundation, and now, I have trouble facing the use of ordinary garden equipment, such as a mower and brush-cutter. It is not a good feeling. I feel like selling what I have and just totally downsizing, in order to make things more manageable.
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Tomorrow morning or Wednesday, I plan to go to Geraldton to have my tooth dealt with. An extraction, where a crown dislodged. I tried to have it done here but the mobile dentist did not feel comfortable without backup medical facilities. There is a very good health campus here, but it is not a hospital. Any serious cases, requiring hospital admission, are ambulanced to Geraldton. I hope that it all turns out to be anti-climactic, with no problems.
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On tuesday I have an appointment with the counsellor, so an opportunity to discuss my thoughts and projections, and whatever “past” comes up. May be that is part of what I am feeling at the moment also.
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I hope that your evening is pleasant, Meg, and your day tomorrow is productive.
With My Very Best Wishes
@HenryX
