Multiple Personalities Support Group
Dissociative identity disorder is a diagnosis described as the existence in an individual of two or more distinct identities or personalities, each with its own pattern of perceiving and interacting with the environment. At least two of these personalities are considered to routinely take control of the individual's behavior, and there is also some associated memory loss,...
My husband started with a new therapist in January. He has seen her about 5 times. She is not a psych doctor..she is a drug/alochol counsler. But she has worked with DID patients in the past. So we met with her together the first time and I didn't get a good feeling about her but I didn't say anything cause he seemed to like her.
Well he went this past Tuesday to see her. He was in a great frame of mind and very peaceful. She wasn't happy about that and wanted to talk to others. He told her that his dad was with us (he is a major trigger) and she used that to manuiplate him to get others to come out.
She managed to get a child out, (this is an alter we didn't know exisited) and after that she saw his uneasiness and wanted the "mean" one to come. He is the one that holds all the anger and she did everything she could to get him out but the rest of the system stopped it from happening.
The one that holds all the anger, has no conscience and wants to hurt people that make him mad and this woman did that. The rest of the group tries to keep him at bay and quiet.
Anyway after he left therapy he didn't remember what was said but he felt great sorrow and pain. He felt like he did when he was 10 years old and the first time he tried to committ suicide.
He told me he was not thinking about suicide..cause that was my first thought.
But he is very angry at his counsler and I don't think she was right in trying to force someone else to come out.
She told him that next she wanted to get started and she wouldn't tell him what she meant by that.
With all of you that have had experiance with different docs what do you think??
I just am thinking that this is not the right place for him....
Well he went this past Tuesday to see her. He was in a great frame of mind and very peaceful. She wasn't happy about that and wanted to talk to others. He told her that his dad was with us (he is a major trigger) and she used that to manuiplate him to get others to come out.
She managed to get a child out, (this is an alter we didn't know exisited) and after that she saw his uneasiness and wanted the "mean" one to come. He is the one that holds all the anger and she did everything she could to get him out but the rest of the system stopped it from happening.
The one that holds all the anger, has no conscience and wants to hurt people that make him mad and this woman did that. The rest of the group tries to keep him at bay and quiet.
Anyway after he left therapy he didn't remember what was said but he felt great sorrow and pain. He felt like he did when he was 10 years old and the first time he tried to committ suicide.
He told me he was not thinking about suicide..cause that was my first thought.
But he is very angry at his counsler and I don't think she was right in trying to force someone else to come out.
She told him that next she wanted to get started and she wouldn't tell him what she meant by that.
With all of you that have had experiance with different docs what do you think??
I just am thinking that this is not the right place for him....
karen
jUNE
sometimes it is theraputic for a therapist to evoke uncomfortable and even 'dangerous' emotions in a patient, B-U-T, and that's a big BUT it is usually done so after a tremendous amount of ground work and with the AGREEMENT of the patient. doesn't sound to me like that's what your husband's therapist did, sounds like she went and just demanded he face some harsh stuff totally unprepared. and what crisis plan did she have? or did she have any? what did she have your husband agree to do if he became sucidial after hours??? did she have a no harm contract (which by the way is pretty much useless but therapists' use them anyway), did she provide him with phone numbers where she could be reached in a crisis? did she have him give her a list of people he would call if he felt overwhelmed? did she have him give her a list of things he would do if he felt he was beginning to lose control? did she ask YOU to be on the alert for changes in behavior?? these are all crisis management tools that therapists use - ethical, caring therapists that is - let me tell you about my therapist...
my dog had to have knee surgery this week. i told my therapist on monday that the dog was having x-rays on tuesday and i'd know when the surgery be'd scheduled then. he said he'd like to know what was what and to please call him on tuesday and let him know. well, we couldn't connect until late and he said would i please call him if he didn't call me by midnight - yes you read that correctly MIDNIGHT. we spoke and i gave him the details, she had surgery yesterday and he again asked that i call and let him know the outcome. it went well and i left him voice mail.
okay he's an animal lover but more importantly he was concerned about my emotional state and was being supportive of me - he didn't say that of course - but he's an ethical and very caring therapist who knows his patient well. he was keeping his finger on my emotional pluse, but he also cares. he often tells me that if he pushes too hard i just need to tell him and he'll back off, he'll come back to it - that's what therapy is about it's not easy but it's not about what the therapist wants. and if therapy gets stuck which it does sometimes it's the therapist's job to figure out how to get it unstuck and sometimes that means referring the patient to another therapist.
i hope your husband can find someone else, and it's been my experience that addictions specialists, particuarly those in recovery themselves are often quite harsh and confrontational - not all - i am generalizing. so they may not be the best fit. if you need a referral you might want to try the isstd or is it issdt? i can never remember - site - that's how i found my therapist. okay i'm getting off my soapbox now, i hope you're husband is okay and that you are also.
the people