Councelling

[skaterGuy15]

On July 29th I am going for councelling. I'm not depressed, I just want help with this phobia I have. But I'm not sure if it's actually a phobia...I've never had councelling so I'm scared that he will think I'm stupid or making a fuss over nothing. Ah..I'm really nervous I have some other things I want to talk about but I wouldn't know where to start or anything. Do they just ask you straight off "So what's wrong?" and expect you to tell them? Because I will freeze up. I'm not good at expressing myself verbally and I feel embarassed that I'm making a big deal of it..like right now. Ahhh...can someone tell me what happens?

[junglemonkey]

If you have a phobia, chances are you won't have counselling but therapy. Counselling is more of a "talking about your problems" type thing but therapy is aimed more at changing the thought processes related to your fear, which I think would suit you more... I've never heard of anyone with a phobia getting counselling for it. I reckon you'd have CBT, same with most anxiety problems.



My first appointment would probably be a bit different from yours but I can tell you what happened with me. I met with a therapist and a psychologist with my mum and they just asked me questions. They wanted to know what was happening to me, yes, and I had to tell them. I wasn't good at expressing myself as well. I didn't know I was having panic attacks but just described it repeatedly as "where everything just comes over you". But they did most of the talking really. Granted, I was with a psychologist, but they could read me like a book. I found out my dad had had chronic leukaemia for ten years in that session when they asked if there were any health problems in the family. No one had told me. The psychologist asked me how I felt about that, I said I was ok with it. She replied, you changed your sitting position and your face flushed, so you're not comfortable with it are you? I was a bit shocked.



I was told I would have CBT and I didn't know what the hell to say at first, but you normally find they take control and help you but they generally do want you to think for yourself. There's nothing wrong with saying "I don't know" when you reallly don't, if you see what I'm getting at. Even though I was there to sort out an anxiety problem we ended up talking about loads of things... So the same will probably happen for you.



If you don't mind saying (I have a bit of a fear of vomit) what's your fear?

What happens when you come into contact with the feared object?

How much does it interfere with your life?



Those are important questions, if you don't mind answering

[skaterGuy15]

..

[Shwynsh]

I've never been in councelling, so i'm not really sure how it works. But, I think before she goes straight into "whats wrong" she usually just TALKS to you- thats what my friends have said, but I'm not sure- maybe just get to know you, ya know a little chit chat just to get you to feel comfortable. Try not to think SO much about what's going to happen, because then you'll freak yourself out and it won't help because you really DON'T know how its going to go... but I know it will be fine. If you try not to think of your SITUATION- that you're telling a 'stranger' things that you have trouble talking about, but you're just looking for help and casually talking to someone... thats all...







And.. since I have the same thing that drives me CRAZY and gives me this crawly feeling underneath my skin.. aghhh.. i was eating a watermellon and there were holes in it VERY close together and i had to just eat it all without looking .. tell me what she says.. I'm quite curious..

[Breathe_In_For_Luck7]

You should see if you have OCD. You posted at TAC some symptoms of OCD and these are symptoms also. Just ask about it or something.

[skaterGuy15]

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[SexyLittleDoll]

I was afraid to go at first. I thought that I would seem weird or something and I made my parents and brothers promise that they wouldn't tell anyone. I ended up really liking it and realizing that just because u go and get help it doesn't mean that anything is wrong with you or whatever.



When u said that u are really excited but u just don't want to forget about anything to tell her .. why don't you write it down. Kind of like make a journal out of your feelings and if you feel comfortable with your doctor then they could read it. I know that I let one of my read my diary and it really helped because then she knew exactly how I was feeling.



In the beginning its like anything else.. its a new experiance and you may not be totally comfortable with it but just try it out ya know and if you get a good vibe from the person then it could really be a lot of help. When u first walk in they talk to you.. just get to know you and know what you like. They may even tell you about themselves.



Good Luck.

[Michie]

Usually on the first day the therapist/psychologist/counselor gets you to do some talking..he/she asks questions to you about how you feel, you're actions, stuff like that.

Usually he/she is the one to start the conversations and lead the conversations to where he/she thinks talk is needed. Anyway, that's what a good counselor does. If you want to talk about something specific, you could tell the counselor and then start talking about whatever you want.



Usually my counselor started the conversations for me, and asked me how I was doing, asked me to explain how my days have been and such.



What you have (this phobia) sounds like a phobia to me...I don't know the name of it, but I bet the counselor will help you out with that too.



All you have to do is say "I have a concern that I want to talk about..." and the councselor will let you explain. I did that with my councelor a few weeks ago because I realized I constantly pick the skin on my scalp and face...



And she let me talk about it, told me it's a stress habit...etc.



Counselors can be really friendly and they try to make you as comfortable as possible on ur first meeting...they can help you a lot..They can also be very perceptive, as a lot of other ppl said.



Hope the counselling goes well. Keep us posted

[junglemonkey]

[Toy Soldier]

Counselling ain't scary hun. Yeah, like Anna said, at first, you and the counsellor have a little 'chit chat'.And also, I use to forget what I was going to say at the counsellors, so he told me to write down what was up, and bring it in the next session so he could look at it. So any problems I had that week, I wrote them down.

luv Ruth

[skaterGuy15]

Aww thank you everyone, hugs and kisses and ice cream for you all.



But... why does it sound like OCD when I say "small things clustered together"?



And nothing really happens when I freak out, I just feel... really disgusting and like I wanna scratch my eyes out. It's a strange feeling. Maybe like watching a bug with lots of legs squirming around. It just gives you that gross feeling, only it's much worse.

[Toy Soldier]

Bugs with lots of legs dont make me squirm lol.



Maybe its OCD, cos if you don't like other things like that, you tend to dwell on them? Good luck at the counsllors anyway.



luv Ruth

[Michie]

I think they say it's OCD because it is an obsession...I learnt a few days ago that OCD is basically when a person concentrates solely on one stimuli and obsesses over it...in this case, it is a fear of little creepy crawly things or any little things clustered together like an ant hole ? Just trying to see it from ur point of view.



I'm sorta weird. No I don't have that paranoia, but I am freaked out by lots of things swarming around me...anything that is clearly out of control: a group of kids running around frantically, ants, etc. Anything which is out of control clearly.



Yah. Maybe it's not OCD, but it is a fear of something. So if that really bothers you, you could talk to your pyschologist about that...or let her initiate the conversations. Good luck

[skaterGuy15]

Thank you verrry much to Michie, Jills_Daughter, junglemonkey, mandy, AF and Anannananananaaa for your kick ass replies I feel fine about it now, even Dr.Mean cannot scare me any more

[JazzIsLove]

Eh I know everyone's pretty much answered all your main questions already..but really i wouldn't ever worry about your problems being too petty for counselling or anything.. if they bother you.. they're enough for counselling. the counsellor is not going to look at you and think 'omg why are they here they don't need this' nope not how it works. that wouldn't be very good counselling now would it? Just go in, explain what's happening.. who knows..maybe they'll figure out why you have that certain phobia? that can be a thing to be worked out psychologically. and I know for a fact that psychologists aren't scary people.. not because I've ever gone to one..but b/c my sister is one and she's one of my most favorite people in this world hehe. much luck to ya