Psychotherapy - does anyone have any experience?

[Tree]

Hi All

I have been around this site for years, but rarely post After several months of being OK I am now finding myself slipping back into wanting to SH and suicidal feelings. I think it's to do with weather, time of year, etc. Feeling like that reminded me of this site and that made me think about something I've been wanting to discuss.

I have been having private psychotherapy for about a year and a half. My mum started paying for me to have it when I had to leave my job and move back home due to repeated ODing and ending up in hospital. During the past year and a half, whilst having psychotherapy, I have trained to be a primary school teacher. I now work full time teaching year 2, which I absolutely love.

Anyway, I was just wondering what people's experiences of psychotherapy are. Until I started having it, I'd never really heard of it. I was wondering if people had found it useful, and how long they'd had it for. I know that there are some very important things I still haven't told my therapist, and that in order for it to be successful I am going to have to be very brave. Has anyone else had this experience?

Thanks for reading,
Tree xxx

[Bethy]

Hiya,

Sorry to hear things are tough right now. I'm glad you've felt able to come back here for support. Winter is quite commonly a difficult time of year. Your teaching experience sounds great though

I had 16 weeks of psychotherapy a few years ago and would say it was the most helpful therapy I've had, I think because I knew the time was limited I consciously decided to just go for it, not hold back, just be honest. It was probably a combination of that, having a therapist I did trust, and being in the right headspace at that point in time for it. It by no means 'fixed' everything but I went in clearly with two aims to focus on (dealing with physical manifestations of anxiety and something from the past) which made it more realistic.

Hope it can help you. Best wishes x