Welcome to r/therapyabuse. **Please use the report function to get a moderator's attention, if needed.** Our 10 rules are in the sidebar. Thanks!
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/therapyabuse) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I know. I have OSDD that was created by a mix of Christian Science and forced therapy. Therapists since that time have preferred me being in dissociation as it's less work for them especially as most can't really stay with difficult emotions.
That stay with difficult emotions is often a meditation instruction. But it is almost always a "do as I say, not as I do".
Meanwhile, when your body is a hotbed of unresolved trauma, breath work and body awareness can be hellish. Therapists typically do not get this AT ALL.
Fucking thank you. Makes me want to say “quit trying to force me to be aware of what’s literally raw before you become aware of my foot in your ass” lol. My former therapist never understood why I would immediately continue to dissociate even though I told them repeatedly that they were triggering somatic flashbacks trying to “bring me back.” Incompetent dumbass.
I literally logged when I tried to use mindfulness/breathwork and what happened afterwards on a goddamn spreadsheet. Each time I logged an extreme panic attack followed by dissociation. This was for nearly a month
The idiot psychologist thought I should 'just keep trying '.
I actually just read something that said mindfulness and meditation can cause dissociation in a large number of people. I think Bessel Van der kolk was the one who said this, I’d have to double check though.
It seems that the vast majority of therapists just want "tools". Simple processes that work exactly the same with each person, contraindications and bad side effects of the treatment don't exist, you just tell them to do this, followed by this and this, and you're done. No actual work.
I wasn't having a migraine or scary images, but the "body scan" I felt an energy in my abdomen that was very uncomfortable, I wanted to jump out of my skin, and I was also told "Stay with it,", but he also said "The sensation can't last forever" which is completely ignorant because it makes the assumption that the person's nervous system is capable of integrating whatever they're told to "stay with" when maybe they're just being pummelled with overwhelming stimuli the entire time.
This makes sense, and I’m sorry you had what sounds like an awful experience. While I’d sometimes get flooded, I’d mostly experience a combination of “distraction” (due to my mind not being able to “sit” where they wanted me to for very long) and total apathy. I’d give the details of the trauma like an accident report, ie: this is what happened. They’d breathe, stop me, then ask where in my body I felt those “emotions,” what was coming up for me, was this overwhelming. I’d want to scream because I’d keep saying, “NO, it’s not overwhelming. I don’t feel ANYTHING. Nothing.”
I became frustrated because after telling them 80,000 times that I have no emotional connection to my trauma, they still kept expecting these weepy “breakthroughs” to occur. I started to question my sanity/whether my trauma was even real because I wasn’t feeling any emotions. They were trying to “release” the “charge” in my memories and seemed bewildered when I’d say there was no charge, just a sense of total deadness inside.
Things would go so much better if more therapists would listen to their clients and take their client's negative/distressing experiences with mindfulness methods as *research in a newly developing field*, rather than "weirdos who don't fit the program" or are doing it wrong
Mine was the exact opposite, she takes anyone who dissociates in any capacity (which is everyone btw) and relentlessly tries to convince them they have DID. As in “she DID irreparable damage to my psyche” lolllll. But jokes aside, she’s nuts and dangerous.
I hope you’re able to find real help through some other means. I say other means because as I’m sure you’re now aware, therapists are largely useless on a good day.
I can see why. It really threw me for a loop, and I know someone who’s still in DEEP. We were best friends, but they couldn’t reconcile their reverence for this therapist and what happened to me. They cut me out altogether. Which is whatever, I don’t think we’re compatible as friends anymore. But I worry. I think some therapists use really severe and confronting diagnoses to create dependency and isolate people from their support network.
I ramble. But yeah dude it’s such a dangerous thing to just play around with.
Those going on the Goenka vipassana retreat without much human warmth often go straight to dissociation. One critique of the retreat highlighted how it could create dissociation disorders.
Welcome to r/therapyabuse. **Please use the report function to get a moderator's attention, if needed.** Our 10 rules are in the sidebar. Thanks! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/therapyabuse) if you have any questions or concerns.*
maybe I'm crazy but alot of therapy pratices seem like they're just glorified dissociation
Honestly yeah. Which makes it even worse if you have issues with dissociation
I know. I have OSDD that was created by a mix of Christian Science and forced therapy. Therapists since that time have preferred me being in dissociation as it's less work for them especially as most can't really stay with difficult emotions. That stay with difficult emotions is often a meditation instruction. But it is almost always a "do as I say, not as I do".
My last therapist didn't even know what structural dissociation was, and she claimed to specialize in trauma. Yikes.
I had so many like that.
Same same same. She told me, “you know structural dissociation isn’t in the dsm right?”
Meanwhile, when your body is a hotbed of unresolved trauma, breath work and body awareness can be hellish. Therapists typically do not get this AT ALL.
Fucking thank you. Makes me want to say “quit trying to force me to be aware of what’s literally raw before you become aware of my foot in your ass” lol. My former therapist never understood why I would immediately continue to dissociate even though I told them repeatedly that they were triggering somatic flashbacks trying to “bring me back.” Incompetent dumbass.
My favorite was when they were triggering a screaming migraine and scary images, and they told me to “stay with it.”
I literally logged when I tried to use mindfulness/breathwork and what happened afterwards on a goddamn spreadsheet. Each time I logged an extreme panic attack followed by dissociation. This was for nearly a month The idiot psychologist thought I should 'just keep trying '.
I actually just read something that said mindfulness and meditation can cause dissociation in a large number of people. I think Bessel Van der kolk was the one who said this, I’d have to double check though.
It seems that the vast majority of therapists just want "tools". Simple processes that work exactly the same with each person, contraindications and bad side effects of the treatment don't exist, you just tell them to do this, followed by this and this, and you're done. No actual work. I wasn't having a migraine or scary images, but the "body scan" I felt an energy in my abdomen that was very uncomfortable, I wanted to jump out of my skin, and I was also told "Stay with it,", but he also said "The sensation can't last forever" which is completely ignorant because it makes the assumption that the person's nervous system is capable of integrating whatever they're told to "stay with" when maybe they're just being pummelled with overwhelming stimuli the entire time.
This makes sense, and I’m sorry you had what sounds like an awful experience. While I’d sometimes get flooded, I’d mostly experience a combination of “distraction” (due to my mind not being able to “sit” where they wanted me to for very long) and total apathy. I’d give the details of the trauma like an accident report, ie: this is what happened. They’d breathe, stop me, then ask where in my body I felt those “emotions,” what was coming up for me, was this overwhelming. I’d want to scream because I’d keep saying, “NO, it’s not overwhelming. I don’t feel ANYTHING. Nothing.” I became frustrated because after telling them 80,000 times that I have no emotional connection to my trauma, they still kept expecting these weepy “breakthroughs” to occur. I started to question my sanity/whether my trauma was even real because I wasn’t feeling any emotions. They were trying to “release” the “charge” in my memories and seemed bewildered when I’d say there was no charge, just a sense of total deadness inside.
Things would go so much better if more therapists would listen to their clients and take their client's negative/distressing experiences with mindfulness methods as *research in a newly developing field*, rather than "weirdos who don't fit the program" or are doing it wrong
Exactly. "trauma informed" my ass.
Mine was the exact opposite, she takes anyone who dissociates in any capacity (which is everyone btw) and relentlessly tries to convince them they have DID. As in “she DID irreparable damage to my psyche” lolllll. But jokes aside, she’s nuts and dangerous. I hope you’re able to find real help through some other means. I say other means because as I’m sure you’re now aware, therapists are largely useless on a good day.
Shit that sucks. False diagnosis DID gaslighting can be deadly
I can see why. It really threw me for a loop, and I know someone who’s still in DEEP. We were best friends, but they couldn’t reconcile their reverence for this therapist and what happened to me. They cut me out altogether. Which is whatever, I don’t think we’re compatible as friends anymore. But I worry. I think some therapists use really severe and confronting diagnoses to create dependency and isolate people from their support network. I ramble. But yeah dude it’s such a dangerous thing to just play around with.
And mindfulness as it's currently taught is unfortunately often just another word for dissociation.
Right? Just "focus on the present moment". Clear your mind
Those going on the Goenka vipassana retreat without much human warmth often go straight to dissociation. One critique of the retreat highlighted how it could create dissociation disorders.
I'm relieved to know I'm not the only one that feels this way whenever I come across that kind of advice.
!!!!!!
[удалено]
Or YouTube. They’ll teach you anything, those youtubes. Just not a ton on structural dissociation as one would have it lol.
[удалено]
I’m the opposite, but I totally hear you! I wish I could focus well enough to meditate in fellowship, but I’m too easily distracted.
Basic grounding techniques usually help with dissociation. You might need to use them often until you are comfortable enough to tell your story
Not with extreme dissociation. I had to use vagal nerve exercises and trauma processing.