Understanding Social Anxiety Part II

Everything is Going Fine But my Sleep

Everything is Going Fine But my Sleep

Second Session With New Therapist - My Experience

 

This post is the second one of a series of posts dedicated to express what I have learned from each session of therapy with my new therapist.

Yesterday was my second session with my new therapist and felt that session was productive and in the end I felt better with myself.

We start reviewing the objectives of my treatment: 1) understand my feelings, behaviors and thinking and how past experiences have influenced who I am today 2) plan activities for an healthy lifestyle with a big emphasis in establishing and developing relationships with other people 3) start reducing the medication and managing the symptoms associated with it.

On the following sessions of the therapy we will be concentrating on the first part of the treatment, which is to understand myself and most of what I talked about were conducted by the therapist. I talked about my parents. What were their background, their education and their temperament. What was their role in my education and what I remember to do with them. I tried to remember if my parents were affectionate with each other and with me as well as my brothers.

I was born in a small village, have 2 brothers and I am the oldest one. Until 9 years old we lived with my parents and grandparents until we moved to another city. As we were closed to my grandparents we would stay the weekends with them as well as some holidays. My parents enjoyed the beach and as we lived near the beach we would spend the summer in a village along the seashore. It was a wonderful time because my family has many friends there and I and my brothers play with other kids.

Then everything changed when my father died when I was 15 years old. From then on I never wanted to spend the summer on the beach. My mother and brothers still spent the summer on the beach but I started going all the holidays and weekends to be with my grandparents. It was with my grandparents that I felt comfortable and at home.

I also talked about my nervous breakdown last year and the psychotic experience that I had during that period, where I thought that there was a plot against me which include my wife, some colleagues and friends.

It is all for today and next week I will be writing about another session.

Thank you for reading.

What we know about stress at work

Feeling much better today!!!

I have came a long way

Hello Josh. It is good to hear you are feeling better and people should remember that they must do the CBT homework in order to get better. Sometimes we do not feel like it because we have anxiety, depression or other feelings but sometimes we should get out of our comfort zones and challenge ourselves to notice any improvements.

On Way My

1. Dedicate 30-60 minutes each day do read the sessions, practice CBT activities and participate on these forums
2. Read each session carefully, more than 1 time if needed so everything is clear
3. Write down the homework of each session so one can not skip any step
4. Finding the time each day to relax (read the relaxation session of this program for tips). In my case I practice yoga with an instructor and at home.

Second Session With New Therapist - My Experience

Myth or Fact

Hello Vincenza. I agree with you and I think mental health problems are due to many factors. While we can't change the genetics factor we have the power to change all the other factors and having a balanced life. The problem is that most of us only realize this when we are feeling down and seek an adequate treatment with therapy included. In my own case, therapy (and especially CBT) make an huge difference in improving my quality of life because it puts the genetics factor in a small compartment in my mind giving it the importance it deserves and not giving this factor the opportunity to govern my life.