Part 2 of my recent post for therapy website welldoing.org contains seven more strategies I find helpful for coping during therapy breaks, and it can be found here:
https://welldoing.org/article/7-acts-self-care-better-mental-health
If you have your own tips, it would be great to hear what works for you! My thoughts are with anyone who has a therapy break upcoming….
Life in a Bind - BPD and me 
July 16, 2017 at 11:55 pm
Currently in a break. Day 6 of 15. 😔 Just shut off and shut down.
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August 1, 2017 at 7:09 pm
I’m so sorry I somehow missed your comment (and also your break!). How did it go and how was it when you came back to session? I know the shut off and shut down response both from some sessions, and also from how breaks used to be for me in the past….I hope it’s an encouragement to know I’ve found that breaks evolve, just as your therapy journey evolves, and they way you get through them can become markers of progress and breaks can even become encouragements and periods of growth, though that is so hard to believe in the days where they are simply a world of pain and separation and unremitting mental battles (or else feeling numb )….thinking of you and take care….
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August 1, 2017 at 7:12 pm
I’ve had 2 scheduled sessions and one emergency session (yesterday). Fighting a hard battle right now. The first session back was great. It was fabulous to reconnect. After that though, I think everything i suppressed has been bubbling up tenfold. Out of control. Thank you for your kind words.
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August 1, 2017 at 7:22 pm
Sending hugs xxx if it’s any comfort, what you’re describing is I think true for many, including me, and you’re spot on I think in saying it’s the suppressed reaction to the break. Now that you’re back in session, it’s finally safe to feel and let out all the resentment and the anger about it, as well as any feelings about things that happened or came up during the break….you will get through this , and back to the point of reconnection…..
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July 17, 2017 at 1:22 am
Love the book idea! Just put some on hold at the library that I think might help me feel connected to therapy during my upcoming break.
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August 1, 2017 at 7:04 pm
What sort of things did you put on hold? X
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August 2, 2017 at 4:17 am
Lol don’t laugh but books about unconditional parenting
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August 2, 2017 at 7:02 am
Not laughing! I’d love to read about what I should have had, and how I can do better at giving it to my children! Let me know any recommendations xxx
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July 18, 2017 at 6:48 pm
Another thought: why not a book that takes you out of the world you live in to relieve a bit of the claustrophobia. Science fiction at its best might do that nicely.
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July 20, 2017 at 5:56 am
Agree! Love being in another world – psych thriller for me!
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August 1, 2017 at 7:02 pm
Hhmmmm ….. You are adding to Dr S’s thought provoking comment and to my dilemma ! I love to read in long chunks (hours ) rather than minutes, precisely so that I can immerse myself in the book. Does that equate to bring in another world though? I love the intensity of the experience and the continuity, but I’m not sure if that is the same as taking me out of myself….it could just be plunging me deeper into myself, depending on the book ! 🙂
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August 1, 2017 at 6:57 pm
Thought provoking comment….because I guess I’ve never read or watched films for escapism…I love being drawn in to a world and feeling intense feelings but I guess I tend to relate them back to situations I’m familiar with. Being caught up in a book or film takes me out of my head to the extent it’s a distraction and focuses on on something else, but it could still indirectly be part of the same claustrophobic world. Perhaps the only stuff that truly takes me out of my head, by being very ‘in the moment ‘, are kids books and films. Or perhaps it’s fairer to say that even if they play into the same inner world (like Marnie) they do it in a rather different way that is somehow more positive and more mindful….I don’t know if that makes any sense, I feel like I’ve just written stream of consciousness nonsense!
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August 2, 2017 at 2:06 pm
Not nonsense. The kind of experience I’m talking about is also called “flow,” by a University of Chicago psychologist, Mihaly Csikzentmihalyi: https://www.ted.com/talks/mihaly_csikszentmihalyi_on_flow/ It represents a loss of self rather than an “application back to self) as you seem to experience. Simply put, one needs to get outside one’s head on occasion. We all do.
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August 6, 2017 at 8:03 pm
This was really interesting, thank you! 🙂
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