Coping With Difficult Therapy Sessions
Coping With Difficult Therapeutic Sessions
Opening up in session can be painful as past issues come to the surface. Sometimes it can feel as if you're back at that time, reliving the pain and it can leave a person feeling very exposed and vulnerable. Sometimes people develop their own coping mechanisms in an attempt to bury the painful issues, and the memories become suppressed. This doesn't mean that the wound is healed, though, and the pain can fester below the surface.
Reliving a painful memory, with the help of our time, although painful, can allow a person to process the buried emotions, which can promote healing.
After a painful session, it's important that you treat yourself with care, and maybe take a day out to look after yourself, avoiding situations that might trigger you. If you had a physical illness such as the flu, you'd rest, and take care of your physical health. You need to treat yourself with the same care after any situation in which you relive and process old memories.
In the subsequent days that follow it's important to find small, gentle, ways to do things that you enjoy - simple things that allow you to rest and which will improve your sense of self esteem. Listening to peaceful music, having a restful bath, taking a walk to a place where you feel at peace, or indulging in a hobby you enjoy can all reinforce to you that you deserve to be kind to yourself and to treat yourself with love and care.
If you find yourself feeling angry after a session, it's important to validate these emotions and to find ways to channel them. You might find that doing something more energetic will help you.
Some suggestions for you to follow after difficult therapy sessions:
Walks In Nature
Warm Bathes
Comfort Food
Exercise
Healthy Amounts Of Sleep
Journal
Alone Time
Art Projects
Explore what brings you comfort.
Most of all be gentle with yourself.
Dr. Ryan Westrum offers therapeutic support for couples and individuals in need of mental health balance and seeking wholeness. You can contact him via email at ryan@healingsoulsllc.com or by phone at 952-261-5269. Go to healingsoulsllc.com to see what events he has coming up and sign up for a complementary consultation.
