My last ERP therapist was aggressive. Not sure if it’s supposed to be that way but I always felt worse after our sessions. Is that suppose to happen? Can ERP not work for everyone?
For me, I didn’t like therapy because my therapist did not give me reassurance for my anxiety. That can be off putting for someone with OCD that is used to everyone reassuring them. But the goal is to not seek reassurance anymore
Hello! Generally speaking, I think that you have to find the right therapist, I think the development of rapport is key to any good therapeutic alliance. If the first therapist wasn't a fit then I think you keep looking- I went through a few before finding the right fit. In terms of OCD- I would just caution that OCD may try and convince you that you don't want to do the treatment or find sneaky ways to sabotage your progress. Not saying that is what this is- just keep it in mind. Make sure avoidance isn't at work. But if you felt like you needed something else then definitely find what you need, you deserve that.
Hi, I went through a couple of therapists before liking one. Make sure they are experts at OCD and have treated others before. I can see why after a session you feel worse. Your therapist gives you/ you do exposure during the session that heightens your anxiety. When you leave the session you have to deal with that anxiety alone. Maybe ask your therapist for ways to deal with anxiety afterwards if that is the reason you feel worse after.
I am sorry that you are having a difficult time. It is common to feel worse after doing ERP at first, because we are learning something new and it will take our brain a while to accept our new response. That being said, I think it is important to be comfortable with the therapist you are working with or I would think, although I can't be sure, that it would have an impact on your recovery. Communication is key - so if the therapist is moving too fast or asking you to do something that you are not ready to do, you need to voice that to the therapist. You are in charge of your care, but if the therapist is unaware of how you feel, then he or she cannot fix it. I hope that you find someone that you are comfortable working with and are able to continue the ERP therapy.
Happy Tuesday friends. Question for you all: I have recently started ERP therapy (about one month ago) and I feel in a way it has helped. But I also notice that I feel the thoughts I do have are SO intense that I feel like I’m gonna explode and then I’ll cry and get upset but then feel better after having a “freak out”. Does this happen to any of you guys? Also, I told my therapist yesterday some of the exposures we had been doing made me uncomfortable. Like really really uncomfortable. She made me feel a little bad about not doing it and stated this would prolong my progress if I didn’t do it. I’m not sure if I should push my self to do this exposure because she told me to or to stick up for myself and move at my own pace. Thanks everyone.
I feel like my therapist knows my issues well enough by now, why haven’t we started erp or why hasn’t she given me any strategies to help when I’m triggered? I’ve had 4 sessions. She just says we have to stick to the method that she works by, but if I don’t know when we will start the work that actually helps me, how can I feel confident in sticking with the therapy? I am so unsure. I keep asking her but she never gives me an answer. It’s not too much to ask to know when the help will actually start is it?! If the next couple of sessions go by and we still haven’t talked about strategies or erp, I will get so anxious because I can only afford 12 sessions 😔 I don’t know what to do. People are saying to be patient and go with it, but I can’t trust it. I would have expected to start some sort of erp plan. If in the next couple of sessions we haven’t started it, what should I do? (I get really triggered by phrases like red flags or that doesn’t sound good in the comments, just objective advice would be so appreciated 🙏🏻)
I just started working on my first exposure today with my therapist after screening and creating the lists for several weeks now. We did an exposure together and now I feel 100x worse than I did coming in. I won’t go too into detail but it involved looking at a VERY gory image that had to do with my fear of natural disasters. I called my mom and talked with her and she was shocked and wondered how in the hell that would help me! I agree. Did any of y’all feel this way when you first started or is this just not the right kind of therapy for me?
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