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Question Mar 18, 2011 at 01:06 AM
  #1
I have this assignment to do and I haven't got a clue how to answer it! I don't really know why I am in therapy. That sounds silly, doesn't it! Paying good money and don't even know why I am there.....

Can you answer any of these questions: Why are you in therapy? What do you hope to accomplish? What are your goals? How will you know when it is time to end therapy?
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Default Mar 18, 2011 at 02:09 AM
  #2
good question...when my T confronted me directally with this last week i had no answer cant wait to see others..

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Default Mar 18, 2011 at 02:38 AM
  #3
I hate this question! I can NEVER answer it when T asks. I usually something like "I dont know what I want to change to or what the end goal is. All I do know is that I dont want things to be like this forever"

i guess I will know therapy is at end when I am able to deal with life effectively and be able to form healthy relationships on my own. To not let the past rule the future I suppose.

I would be interested in others comments too.
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Default Mar 18, 2011 at 05:13 AM
  #4
This is how I would answer the questions.

Why are you in therapy? To learn how to cope with my past so that I can continue in my future successfully.

What do you hope to accomplish? A better understanding of what triggers certain emotions and circumstances and more knowledge on how to deal with them.

What are your goals? To walk into public without great anxiety. To reduce flashbacks and dissociation. To gain more confidence in myself. To learn to trust others and reduce occurrences of being anti-dependent.

How will you know when it is time to end therapy? When therapy starts to feel like "training wheels" when I can walk into the world and suddenly realize I was balancing all alone and no one was there to back me up for it.


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Default Mar 18, 2011 at 07:14 AM
  #5
At my first session, my T asked what I wanted to accomplish in therapy, and I told him "I want to be able to feel my feelings". The only feelings I was aware of were what I called "Stressed" and "Okay". And Stressed was beating out Okay, hands down. I knew that life was supposed to be fuller than that, but I didn't know how to get there.

If I had to talk about my goals now, 3 1/2 years in, they would probably be to carry a place of peace inside, to feel comfortable connecting with other people, to be able to manage flashbacks/triggers, to integrate all of the parts of me so that I never lose time, etc. And like T always says, to have power over the past, instead of it having power over me.

I'm getting closer, but it's a slow process.

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Default Mar 18, 2011 at 08:51 AM
  #6
Quote:
Originally Posted by Squiggle328 View Post
Why are you in therapy? What do you hope to accomplish? What are your goals? How will you know when it is time to end therapy?
I am in therapy because my life has become unmanageable, and I am emotionally in turmoil.

My goals: First to overcome major anxiety about talking to T and others. Second to learn how to handle PTSD symptoms. Third to deal with a dx that I will always have to take meds for.

I will be able to end therapy when I can talk to people, manage my symptoms on my own, and when I come to terms with the secondary diagnosis.

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Default Mar 18, 2011 at 09:08 AM
  #7
You can END therapy?????
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Default Mar 18, 2011 at 09:18 AM
  #8
This is actually something I've been meaning to re-visit with my T - my goals for therapy. When I first started going to her almost 2 years ago, all I really wanted help with was dealing with anxiety and all my goals were around that. I did not trust her enough to even mention SI or ED or some other issues. Now that I trust her more and we've gone in to some deeper issues, my goals have changed.

Now, I think my goals are more like: To learn to value myself and my feelings; to be more authentic with other (stop hiding behind masks all the time); to learn to not become completely overwhelmed by anxiety; To learn to use more healthy coping skills (I have them, I just often forget to use them)

I will know it's time to leave therapy when I no longer feel the constant need to apologize just for being who I am.

When things have been especially difficult, and I've told my T that I had considered not coming, she always asks me why I didn't cancel and why I decided to come to therapy. My response is usually that I've tried not talking about things and that didn't work, so as painful as talking about these issues can be, and as hard as it is, it has to be more effective than just ignoring it and hoping maybe it'll all go away. I've seen progress, and I know I can make more progress, I just have to work through the uncomfortable parts to get there.

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Default Mar 18, 2011 at 10:02 AM
  #9
I haven't really thought ahead to what "done" is going to feel like yet, but I do have a couple areas that I feel like I've been able to identify (I went into therapy with just a feeling of "something's wrong, I'm stuck/depressed" so part of the work was just figuring out what to focus on)...

1) Managing emotions better (like coping skills)
2) Having more satisfying relationships
3) Better self esteem
4) Having a bigger pallette of emotions to choose from (like treehouse mentioned, I basically have... ok, and upset)
5) Working out how to feel life more fully, all the joys as well as all the pain.

(I work on this stuff outside of therapy too obviously and have a couple of life goals, and when they are fulfilled then I'll probably be done)
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Default Mar 18, 2011 at 10:53 AM
  #10
Quote:
Originally Posted by Squiggle328 View Post
I have this assignment to do and I haven't got a clue how to answer it! I don't really know why I am in therapy. That sounds silly, doesn't it! Paying good money and don't even know why I am there.....

Can you answer any of these questions: Why are you in therapy? What do you hope to accomplish? What are your goals? How will you know when it is time to end therapy?
You want us to do your homework for you?
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Default Mar 18, 2011 at 11:08 AM
  #11
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Originally Posted by Suratji View Post
You want us to do your homework for you?

You are a brilliant, Suratji!! How did you figure that out?
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Default Mar 18, 2011 at 01:32 PM
  #12
I think those are good questions to discuss with your therapist. Seems like it would be easier if your T just raised this topic in session with you and you discussed it in person. Then there is give and take with opportunities to bounce ideas and perceptions off of each other. Plus, the T can offer some guidance--a client is not a mental health professional so doesn't necessarily know what circumstances would signal it might be time for termination. Do you think your therapist doesn't know why you are in therapy? That question doesn't seem to "fit" with a provider who has been seeing you for a while (it's seems more like an intake question). Perhaps she is thinking your goals have changed since you started therapy? That is very, very common. What I ended up working on in therapy was quite different than the reason I came. Until we've been therapy a while, sometimes we don't what know our underlying problems until, just their surface manifestations. So maybe your T is feeling a bit "out to sea" with you and feeling your current work doesn't reflect your previous goals? I hope you two can have a good discussion on this.

Especially on the termination question, I think the T can provide a lot of valuable information based on her experience. I have terminated with two Ts before, and both times I did it ungracefully, and I am not sure if it was a good time or not. I just did it. I guess if I had to answer that question, I would say it is time to end therapy when I am no longer being helped by the therapist. The sessions are no longer helpful.

Good luck!

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Default Mar 18, 2011 at 02:33 PM
  #13
- to stop allowing what other people say/think to ruin my life
- to see if an intimate relationship is, indeed, something I want
- to be able to manage my deep grief, and go easy on myself.
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Default Mar 18, 2011 at 02:34 PM
  #14
Important questions. So - what would you say yours are?

Mine were vague too in the beginning. Then it came down to happiness peace of mind and emotions as well as being ok so to have what i deserve. With every achievement goals change.

Remember there are no right and wrong answers. Maybe would be worth thinking about - what needs to happen for you to feel happy? How will that happen? And work from there?
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Default Mar 18, 2011 at 02:42 PM
  #15
When I first started therapy my goal was to ease the anxiety and minimize panic attacks. Now that I've accomplished that, my T and I are working on new goals: talking and sharing more about my thoughts and feelings, learning to feel better about myself, and to learn to cope with stress.

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Default Mar 18, 2011 at 04:02 PM
  #16
Quote:
Originally Posted by Squiggle328 View Post
You are a brilliant, Suratji!! How did you figure that out?
So "cheat" and copy from a therapist?

http://www.drranjanpatel.com/goals_therapy.html

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Default Mar 18, 2011 at 04:12 PM
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So "cheat" and copy from a therapist?

http://www.drranjanpatel.com/goals_therapy.html
Thanks for the link! I don't see this as cheating. I was just at a total loss at to what goals look like. I needed some help getting started because I could feel the 'shut down' mode coming on.

I often make things a lot harder than they are. Sometimes getting started on an assignment is the hardest part for me. With all of the GREAT responses I have received, I have a better idea of what goals look like.

I think I can get started now
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Default Mar 18, 2011 at 06:47 PM
  #18
Well done.

Quote:
I often make things a lot harder than they are. Sometimes getting started on an assignment is the hardest part for me. With all of the GREAT responses I have received, I have a better idea of what goals look like.
I can see 1 or 2 goals there already
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Default Mar 18, 2011 at 08:50 PM
  #19
In order to try to figure out your therapy goes, try to imagine what will be different in you and your life, when you decide it's time to end therapy.
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Default Dec 22, 2011 at 03:08 PM
  #20
As we approach another new year, this question has come up again: "What are your goals in therapy?"
Below are the goals I have come up with so far:

(1)Be more disciplined in taking care of myself (rest, exercise, diet)

(2) Rely on God’s grace to complete me rather than exhausting myself attempting to orchestrate my own perfection.

(3) Accept that I cannot change certain things in my life, and be okay with that realization.

(4) Stop worrying about the future and put my faith in God

(5) Eliminate comfort-seeking impulses in favor of having those needs met by God and existing relationships.

(6) Establish and maintain more realistic expectations for and evaluations of myself and my assumptions of how others view me.

(7) Value my relationship with my husband and work on making it more stable and satisfying.

(8) Learn to manage unreasonable anxiety over judgment, rejection, abandonment, etc.

(9) Learn to like myself and accept myself for the way I am

(10) Accepting that it is OKAY to still be in therapy and that my therapist is not tired of me.
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