I’m in Long-Term Counseling

My therapist understands domestic abuse, and counseling with a therapist familiar with my problems is making all the difference. By the time I found her, my perfect therapist, I’d seen three others (domestic violence counselor at the Army DSS, an insurance-provided therapist, and a domestic violence counselor at Cumberland County DSS). None of them did for me what my trauma-informed therapist was able to do.

What I Hoped to Accomplish

I wanted to learn ways to deal with emotional and verbal violence, and I communicated that to this counselor right away. I asked her for effective coping strategies that worked for me.

Results

My results were phenomenal. I found my center and was able to make sound decisions regarding my marriage, my children, and myself.

Recommendation

Find “the right” trauma-informed counselor. You get to decide who is the right counselor. If you don’t feel comfortable with a therapist after a visit or two, continue counseling but look for a better match.

There are different kinds of therapies available to you. I recommend one that deals with the here and now and answers questions like “What can I do today to better handle the abuse I’m experiencing?

All therapists will ask you about your childhood and your parents, but the focus needs to be on today and what to do about it so you can make healthy changes and feel better almost immediately.

Therapies to Consider

Types of counseling that might help you relatively quickly include:

• Acceptance and commitment therapy
• Cognitive behavioral therapy
• Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR)
• Narrative Therapy
• Solution-focused brief therapy

Photo by Sigmund