Seeking stories of hope

Hey @StillTrying ,

To be honest, I feel that if I was presented with the therapies any earlier in my life, I may not have been ready to make any changes. For me, it had to be the right therapy at the right time for it to work.

So some things that didn't work when I was younger, later seemed to work.

I don't have a rule book though. It's just what worked for me.

Hi @Appleblossom

Thanks for your post.

I think its just supply and demand as to why they think $300 is justified. I'm not located in a big city and there's very few therapist that offer the specific type of therapy I was referred for (EMDR) in my location. But I'm glad I'm not alone in being shocked at the price of it.

The cost of living is definitely a big challenge. I know a large portion of the population are struggling with it. I guess those of us with mental health issues are more at risk of falling to the stress of it. Less likely to have good incomes, likely to have more outgoing costs (therapy and meds), and its just harder to be resilient to big challenges in general.

I like your point that not all progress is made in therapy - if I've understood that correctly. It was really hard for some reason to post in this forum, but I'm hoping that doing it will give me a little nudge in the right direction. Hopefully I can find other things to get me on a good track too.

Hi @tyme,

Thanks for sharing that. I can definitely see what you mean.

I'll keep plugging away and pushing on. I'm really hoping I'll get to a point where something just clicks and I can improve things for the long haul.

Just out of curiosity, over the years when things didn't seem to be working, was it that they never helped at all? Or helped for a little bit but your progress fell away?

In my case, there's been times that I work really hard and almost get to a place where I think I can start to make something out of myself or get to a good place, and then one thing or another happens and I plummet right back to where I was. I never really quite get to a place of stability that I can build on. Its kind of like... work really hard, work really hard, kind of going ok for a minute, ok I think i can hold on, oh no massive crisis, everything falls apart completely, here I am again right back at square one.

@StillTrying keep honouring your own path, in and out of any structured therapy you do.

I have just came off a zoom session with my new psychologist who I really appreciate and does not overcharge. I am grateful for all the good moments I have had both in therapy and whilst doing the many various studies and training I have done in the field. Essentially, I have had to learn what is good for mental health on a limited budget, and coach myself throughout life.

Good luck with the EMDR. I tried it briefly, about 10 years ago, but didn’t feel trust for the particular practitioner to do my deep trauma work, so moved on. Over the years I have done Primal therapy, Psychodrama, Gestalt Therapy, meditation styles, and found a range of approaches works best for me. They were the therapies at the cutting edge at the time m I had spare money for myself. Then I had kids and family commitments. Narrative therapy is also a home grown Aussie modality that can be good. There are also DIY approaches in art, book, therapies, and I recently heard about forest bathing.

whatever evolves, take care

🍎

Thanks for sharing @StillTrying ,

How are you going today?

@StillTrying

I have found it so much better for myself if I lower my expectations for myself.

I burned out, in work and life in general. My long term relationship ended. I was very close to suicide, the only thing that stopped me was my cats. Who would care for them?

Over the past 8 months I have had to slowly pick up the pieces and there have been days I haven't really gotten out of bed. But instead of comparing myself to others, or even to my past self, I now just do what I can.

Some days recently I have been incredibly productive and done tasks which have been neglected for years. Today I went for a nice walk, had lunch and dinner, and showered.

Do what you can, when you can. And be kind to yourself ❤️