Started Counselling

[Ivory]

Hi all

I posted a while back talking about seeing my GP, and being reluctant to make an appointment because I felt like I must be just a drama queen making things up. Well, I did make the appointment and I did go to it. I couldn't talk to him in any detail - I was too embarrassed/emotional to make any sense. But he was very understanding and put me in touch with the lead counsellor so that they could discuss some options with me.

So, long story short, I am now seeing someone weekly to talk about my problems. This is good, I think, although it's hard to say at this point whether it's helpful. I've only had one session and it was an assessment session so she basically just probed for details about my life, situation, family, childhood etc.

Mainly I'm hoping for some clarity.

I hope that talking to someone regularly like this will help.

But still, for some reason I feel like I need a diagnosis and I feel concerned about what kind of picture I'm painting of me with my words and actions because I don't know who I am or if I am "OK" or how distorted my thinking patterns are, I am really struggling for some meaning in who I am and what I feel and do right now. A counsellor cannot provide me with any sort of diagnosis, so if that's important to me or begins to look more necessary I'd have to go back to my GP and actually talk to him. And I don't know why that terrifies me, but I don't feel ready for that, so I'll just see how this works out I guess. If the counsellor recommends that I go back to my GP then I will. I'll speak to her about my concerns on this when I feel more comfortable talking to her. I was so terrified last Thursday at the assessment and could barely get words out but I did somehow manage to talk for an hour so I am confident now that I can do this, it is progress.

I know the most important thing is that I make progress, and the diagnosis is not so important, but this thought is just nagging me at the moment.

Oh well.

I'll see how I feel on Thursday when I see the counsellor again.

Well this was a slightly confused post. LOL. Never mind.

I'm glad I made that appointment though. Thanks to everyone who encouraged me to do so. :bigarmhug[1]:

[Dani]

Well done for making the first step!I hope it helps.Try not to worry of what may come of it and concentrate on how your benifiting now

x

[Marchmadness]

Hey -

Glad you took those first steps, those are the hardest ones. You should be really

proud of yourself! As far as getting a DX, once you have talked with the docs and

they get a feel as to what is going on they will be better able to access you. If you

are having a difficult time with talking maybe you can write down a few things that

you want him to know. Then if you get stuck you can refer to the paper. You did

really well.

March

[Rael]

you have done really well to let them know even a little of whats going on and i hope that the counseling helps you. it will feel easier once you have got to know the counselor to be able to talk to her and look a little further to see about getting a dx and talking with her could help you identify things that are happening that could affect what the doctor says. its a big step forwards you have made so be proud of yourself for that.

xxx

[Ivory]

Thanks everyone

Yeah I am proud of myself for taking this step. Thanks for being supportive - I'll update on how things go after a few more sessions.