Therapist gave up on me after one session

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She just exposed deficiencies in her training or qualifications.

OP, I'm so sorry you are dealing with this and hope you can find someone better for you. I've never been diagnosed with CPTSD, but have, at minimum, some symptoms of it and I know abandonment and rejection don't exactly roll right off me. I hope this experience doesn't deter you from moving forward in getting the help and support you need and deserve.

DID?
I had a "simple", vanilla dissociated disorder without the multiple personalities.
I called it: "A lessened sense of reality".
It was partly due to Ontological Insecurity as a result of a traumatic experience as a child.

When were you diagnosed?
As a child?

All you can do, Babybird, is continue plugging away.

I would try all sorts of trauma clinics.

I admire that you’ve taken the bull by the horns. You’ve really grown up recently. I remember, a couple of years ago, when you seemed like you were a totally different person. You didn’t give two craps about things then.

You did not have to wait two years for counseling because coronavirus. Online counseling.

I have gone to 42 counselors, including trained volunteers

Zero of them told me that they were not qualified to be my counselor

A lot of the time, it seemed like they were not qualified. They just wanted cash.

For traumatic situations, they just said things like "that sounds traumatic". "Unfortunate thing that happened". "Sorry". "You don't deserve to be treated badly". "Not your fault".

Platitudes

The counselor meant well but they were not "helping".

A counselor told me that "a trauma is something bad that happened that still affects you". But that definition way too broad. Everything is good, bad, both, or neither. You can't measure the quality. Not all impacts are immediate, obvious, permanent or physical. Plenty of things still affect you.


Any counselor that tells a client that the counselor is not qualified to treat the client, is at least honest and transparent

Some counselors act like they don't even know how unqualified and incompetent they are. (Unconscious incompetence)

Some counselors just make sympathetic grunting noises or keep repeating "how does that make you feel?". Then after I answered that question she told me "I know how you feel". Wtf? She knows what adjective that I answered but she doesn't necessarily know the physical sensations




Seriously I think a good counselor would know and admit their limits. But of course, anyone could say anything.

I was diagnosed just before the pandemic in 2020

Yes I did.

babybird,

Did the counsellor refer you to someone better specialised, or are you searching on your own?

My trauma therapist said she was highly qualified for my PTSD and brain injuries, and to a lesser extent for my autism (she does autism assessments, but not autism psychotherapy).

She gave me a choice: She could continue with trauma / stroke therapy and do her best with autism-related issues by doing more research, or she could continue with trauma and help me find a second person for autism. I opted to stay with her.

I'm sorry this happened because I know the wait lists are long. Here people can wait 2-3 years for a medical psychiatrist even when it isn't a pandemic. Psychologists did go online but many of them burnt out with the high demand during Covid, and quit or went on their own medical leaves. It took my daughter nearly a year to find a new online psychologist with the credentials and expertise that she needed, who was taking new patients.

It's really hard to find the right person so I feel badly that yours didn't work out.

Let us know how it turns out, if you find someone new.

I wonder if anyone here in UK with DID can recommend a name to you?

Oh yeah she's referred me on to someone more qualified. She said someone clinical or something. I don't really know about this sort of thing. I just know that it took me about three days to get over that one session with her.

Oh, that's great news actually. I didn't know she gave you a referral. It's still a pain to wait again, and start over again, but at least she's helping you.

She likely referred you to a Clinical Psychologist, instead of a Psychologist (non-clinical), or a Psychotherapist.

A CP will have much more experience and accreditation with serious mental health conditions like DID (especially in conjunction with Autism, and whatever other co-morbid diagnoses you have).

You'll be in good hands!

Thank you. I was Just in a bit of a mess and confused when I made this thread but you guys have made a massive difference so thank you all.

Well you should have f*****g said so back then then shouldn't you.

So, are you consciously aware of your different personas taking over at the time?
Do you suspect there may be more that are essentially hidden?
How many different personalities have you identified?
Do they manifest dependent on the situation you are involved in?
Do you consider each personality as organically you?
Are some more dominant or submissive?

I'm getting more aware of them taking over but up until a couple of years ago I wasn't aware. It would just happen and then the memory of it would be like a blurry dream.

There could be more that are hidden. I'm only really aware of three and yes they are situational. That's why I wonder which one I will be when I'm going for interviews or meetings or therapy sessions.

Logically I do know that they are me but they do feel very separate from me as well.

They are protectors of me. One is especially aggressive so yes probably dominant.

Do you have any idea what caused the DID?
I believe it is usually a defensive/protective psychological tactic as a result of a threatening situation.
This was the case with my dissociative disorder when I was 4 years old, but for me, I essentially blacked out and found myself wandering the skool yard when everyone else was in class.

I have this also.
There are some memories where I don't know if they are genuine or something I dreamt of, hence my calling it "a lessened sense of reality" before I knew the actual diagnostic term.