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Author Topic: Just booked 1st therapy appointment!  (Read 3493 times)

rebelyell

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Just booked 1st therapy appointment!
« on: May 22, 2015, 02:50:39 PM »

Unable to cast off current anxiety and getting a little desparate.  My GP just thinks it is 'me' rather than meno related.  I just want to be sane again.  Have found a therapist on the internet and booked an appointment for 1st June.  I suppose it will be CBT and am praying it helps.  At the moment my health anxiety is so bad that I can't see normal life ahead.   And only three weeks ago I was kicking ass.   :(
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CLKD

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Re: Just booked 1st therapy appointment!
« Reply #1 on: May 22, 2015, 03:38:24 PM »

Is this therapist qualified?  Your GP should be able to advise!

I found talking really helpful - discuss, decide, ditch.  To a complete stranger who was paid to listen and couldn't tell me 'oh that can't have happened because ..... '
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Sunnydays

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Re: Just booked 1st therapy appointment!
« Reply #2 on: May 22, 2015, 05:11:34 PM »

My son had terrible anxiety (unable to go to work)  and a hypnotherapist helped
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sandy

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Re: Just booked 1st therapy appointment!
« Reply #3 on: May 23, 2015, 05:44:05 AM »

Hi , I am the same as yourself , suffering from Anxiety , I am back on Ads for the second time round , as i could feel the Anxiety spiraling out of control , i asked my Doctor last week if i could go for CBT , i thought my Doctor would refer me , but i have got to fill a form out to refer myself , and hopefully they will accept me. I looked on the internet for a therapist local to me , and found one locally , she charges £40 , but does not say if its hourly , so i think i need to email her and ask a few questions , which will be best , NHS or Private ? .

I cannot understand how someone talking to you can get these feeling out of your  body and mind  , my doctor said its like re programming your brain .

Has anyone had any sucsess with CBT or Hypmotherapy ?.


I wish you well.
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Sunnydays

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Re: Just booked 1st therapy appointment!
« Reply #4 on: May 23, 2015, 12:32:09 PM »

Some health authorities operate a self referral which I understand can work well.  For my son we didn't go down that route has hypnotherapy was having positive impact. There are some good links on this site about cbt- I think of it like retraining your brain in how you think about and respond to things. Many hypnotherapists also do nlp - neural linguistic programming and this can help too. The important thing is to feel happy with the therapist you choose. This is why they usually show their photos so you can see who you'll be speaking to. My son had a man and this is why I think it worked so well. Good luck
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rebelyell

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Re: Just booked 1st therapy appointment!
« Reply #5 on: May 23, 2015, 01:45:32 PM »

Thank you.  I am terrible today - total panic attack out of nowhere, it is difficult to function.

I do think it is all in my mind though - if I stop thinking about/concentrating on it, it goes.  I feel so sorry for my OH, he married a mouthy, confident, happy person and now lives with a total wreck.  I do every single ridiculous thing on a health anxiety leaflet I found [posting on here is one of them!] and even laugh about my inability to stop myself checking everything.  Although I only laugh when I am not having a panic attack.

Will try everything before going back on citalopram - I genuinely feel part of my problem is severe withdrawal symptoms - apparently it is called discontinuation syndrome [found that out while surfing the net.. which I shouldn't be doing...]

All success stories welcome!
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CLKD

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Re: Just booked 1st therapy appointment!
« Reply #6 on: May 23, 2015, 09:04:32 PM »

Well, for 1 thing you should not have to pay for treatment of any kind which is available on the NHS!  I paid because I had Health Insurance.  Which also meant I could have as many sessions as reuiqredd which was a lot! whereas at the time, the NHS offered 12 weeks.  I had to wait 18 months to get that though  ::)

CBT did not work for me as my phobia was engrained within 12 hours of birth.  The idea is to accept those feelings and put into practice different thinking patterns which should become automatic and over-ride others.  It really does take practice  ::)

Talking therapy enabled me to vent.  Get rid of the anger inside.  Talk through with a complete stranger.  Discuss, decide, ditch  ;)

If you are stopping any medication you need to discuss a phased withdrawal with support.  It took me 9 weeks to stop one AD and the GP had smaller amounts of the drug than is usually available.  Every 2 weeks I took less and less.  The side-effects stopped after 48 hours and once I recognised that I didn't feel worse I was OK.  Citalopram keeps me ticking over  ;)
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pepperminty

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Re: Just booked 1st therapy appointment!
« Reply #7 on: May 25, 2015, 11:43:11 AM »

The NHS has good counselling services , it usually takes a about 6 to 8 weeks to get the initial appointment , which may be by phone or in person to assess you.

Then after they have asked you a few questions they decide what treatment would be best.
It does work , there are lots of techniques to help with anxiety.

It doesn't vanish over night , but it can be made more manageable.

Good luck

peppermintyxx
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rebelyell

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Re: Just booked 1st therapy appointment!
« Reply #8 on: May 25, 2015, 01:11:23 PM »

I have had my NHS telephone appointment and am waiting for CBT appointment - but was told it could be up to 2 months so I thought I would book privately as I wanted to start straight away.

This way I will at least know if it is for me - although I understand it is a long process and needs to be practised regularly. 
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pepperminty

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Re: Just booked 1st therapy appointment!
« Reply #9 on: May 25, 2015, 01:56:47 PM »

Hi,

it's good that you have booked a private appointment. But if you are put off , or think it isn't for you, don't be disheartened as each therapist is different and also they all work in slightly different ways. Some are excellent and others , not so much . It's great to talk and they may tailor a particular therapist to you. It may take some time , but it will help .

I have several friends who have had different types of counselling and they all have benefited to differing degrees.
I hope that in a few months you will posting that you feel loads better.

Peppermintyxx
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CLKD

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Re: Just booked 1st therapy appointment!
« Reply #10 on: May 25, 2015, 03:26:36 PM »

I could tell that one Psychologist had 'read the book'  ::) - I could tell her which page she was on  >:( and also told her that because it is written, doesn't make it possible for everyone to recover from reading what others think should work!

Let us know how you get on.  One Psychologist gave me homework  ;D
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