Looking for alternatives to talk therapy

[Veronica Sawyer]

Coming back to this forum after a couple years because, well I've just been going through life with no therapy, trying to focus on work and get through life one day at a time. It's been up and down, but lately things have just been getting worse, and looking back I think it's been getting worse the whole time. I've been slowly letting my anxieties, anhedonia, and habits of social isolation take over and it's meant slowly doing less with my time, and having fewer friends who I actually talk to and lean on. So, I figure I should try therapy again.

I've gone through quite a few therapists over the last 10 years and none of really felt effective. I tend to really easily get into these super intense negative thought spirals during therapy. Trying to talk through why I think a certain thought or feel a certain way or how I could go about solving a problem usually leads to me freezing up, shutting down, and lashing out at the therapist. I would typically leave sessions feeling exhausted and worse than before. I recently learned that talk therapy can be pretty harmful to people with OCD, and while I don't have a diagnosis, a lot of what I've read seems to line up, plus I have a family history of it. (Side note, I really wish that it was actually communicated properly that therapy can be harmul. People always treat therapy as this completely neutral thing that at worst just doesn't work, but truly there's so much harm that therapy can do and I'm really sick of family members treating me like I'm being petulant and resistant for not going to therapy after numerous bad experiences)

Regardless though, I think it might be worthwhile to try something other than talk therapy. Does anybody have any experience with or any suggestions for things to look for? Looking for treatment is pretty daunting so any help would be appreciated.

 

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[orpheus_]

It's sometimes about the therapy approach that matters. There are specific types of talk therapy tailored for certain mental health problems, and they differ a lot in how they work. Chances are you haven't tried the approach that's right for you yet.

From what I know there's a subtype of CBT therapy called ERP (exposure and response prevention) which is made specifically to help with OCD so maybe try to look into it.

About things other than talk therapy.
The most common one, meds. Some antidepressants can help with OCD symptoms too, and also with other problems you mentioned. Anecdotal evidence: I've had OCD symptoms since a very young age and when I started taking fluoxetine for depression it made them go away almost completely. Like, I didn't expect that at all, because that seems simply unrelated. HOWEVER in my case the OCD symptoms were rather mild. Also I'm assuming you might have already looked into this option because medication is the first obvious thing besides talk therapy

 

[Veronica Sawyer]

It's sometimes about the therapy approach that matters. There are specific types of talk therapy tailored for certain mental health problems, and they differ a lot in how they work. Chances are you haven't tried the approach that's right for you yet.

From what I know there's a subtype of CBT therapy called ERP (exposure and response prevention) which is made specifically to help with OCD so maybe try to look into it.

About things other than talk therapy.
The most common one, meds. Some antidepressants can help with OCD symptoms too, and also with other problems you mentioned. Anecdotal evidence: I've had OCD symptoms since a very young age and when I started taking fluoxetine for depression it made them go away almost completely. Like, I didn't expect that at all, because that seems simply unrelated. HOWEVER in my case the OCD symptoms were rather mild. Also I'm assuming you might have already looked into this option because medication is the first obvious thing besides talk therapy

I have heard of ERP, that was one of the things I read about when researching, so I might try that if I can find a therapist in my area

I was also on fluoxetine for several years, but ended up switching to others after experiencing some negative interactions when I went on a medication for other stuff. Unfortunately nothing else has really worked, and to be honest I'm not entirely sure the fluoexetine was the biggest factor in me being better during that time, I just had a lot more going on in my life and more of a support network.

Either way, I do appreciate the suggestions from you both. Hopefully I can find a decent therapist, I haven't tried since 2 years ago when I went through 3 or 4 within the year.

 

[_Gollum_]

Not sure how well it would work for someone with OCD, but maybe art therapy?