green twining
Newcomer
I'm introducing myself as I've just signed up. I wondered for a bit about what to put as the title for this introductory thread and decided on the above because that is what brought me to this site.
I was having specialist CBT for chronic OCD (had from age 5, following ACEs). My therapist was really pleased at my progress and was just about to sign me off (and this really was a sign off because the therapy was on the NHS, so once my scores are down, or after 10 sessions, I'm out!) but then I had a flare up of shoulder pain which made it hard for me to sleep and was accompanied by a big upsurge in my OCD symptoms. My therapist was pretty upset ("Why has your OCD got so much worse!!") and I tried to calm her (she really did need calming - she was upset she was not going to achieve her targets for anxiety reduction for the month/year...) by telling her that I thought it was because of the shoulder pain. My therapist then said I should be discharged from the OCD therapy and enrol in the pain clinic. "No!" I said, "I want to complete this course of therapy!" I had visions of ricochetting back and forth between OCD therapy and the pain clinic.
I realised then that there was a link between the OCD and the chronic pain so started to research on the internet.
After very many years of having discrete treatment for symptom after symptom only for another one to pop up to replace the last one, I finally found that almost all of my symptoms (and there are very many from 50 years plus of it) are probably the result of those ACEs.
In the meantime I had lost one job due to being a whistle-blower and another due to the Covid pandemic. And I had 'retrained' as a hypnotherapist and mindfulness teacher. With my networks pretty much gone due to two job losses in aggravated circumstances and a move to a new city I have not had a single client for these therapy services (no-one told me that networks are so important in getting going with private therapy work - should I feel bitter?! They took the money, after-all, and it does seem a rather important piece of information to miss out - or is it just a hidden assumption that no-one thinks about because mostly networks are in place and intact?), so have entertained myself working on transforming these therapy skills with PPDs in mind for my, at present, fantasy business.
Fortunately I have a very small pension and my partner has a more sensible sized pension so these life mishaps have not left us destitute!
I try to enjoy the process and not get too hung up on where it is leading to.
I was having specialist CBT for chronic OCD (had from age 5, following ACEs). My therapist was really pleased at my progress and was just about to sign me off (and this really was a sign off because the therapy was on the NHS, so once my scores are down, or after 10 sessions, I'm out!) but then I had a flare up of shoulder pain which made it hard for me to sleep and was accompanied by a big upsurge in my OCD symptoms. My therapist was pretty upset ("Why has your OCD got so much worse!!") and I tried to calm her (she really did need calming - she was upset she was not going to achieve her targets for anxiety reduction for the month/year...) by telling her that I thought it was because of the shoulder pain. My therapist then said I should be discharged from the OCD therapy and enrol in the pain clinic. "No!" I said, "I want to complete this course of therapy!" I had visions of ricochetting back and forth between OCD therapy and the pain clinic.
I realised then that there was a link between the OCD and the chronic pain so started to research on the internet.
After very many years of having discrete treatment for symptom after symptom only for another one to pop up to replace the last one, I finally found that almost all of my symptoms (and there are very many from 50 years plus of it) are probably the result of those ACEs.
In the meantime I had lost one job due to being a whistle-blower and another due to the Covid pandemic. And I had 'retrained' as a hypnotherapist and mindfulness teacher. With my networks pretty much gone due to two job losses in aggravated circumstances and a move to a new city I have not had a single client for these therapy services (no-one told me that networks are so important in getting going with private therapy work - should I feel bitter?! They took the money, after-all, and it does seem a rather important piece of information to miss out - or is it just a hidden assumption that no-one thinks about because mostly networks are in place and intact?), so have entertained myself working on transforming these therapy skills with PPDs in mind for my, at present, fantasy business.
Fortunately I have a very small pension and my partner has a more sensible sized pension so these life mishaps have not left us destitute!
I try to enjoy the process and not get too hung up on where it is leading to.
