Something fun: what would be your "dream" treatment plan?

How many times a week would you go to T?
Where would the sessions be? What would the environment/office look like?
How long would the sessions be?
Male or female T?
What therapeutic methods?(CBT, humanistic, EMDR, art, etc.)
What would the sessions include?(play therapy, movement, relaxation, etc.)
Would it include group therapy?

Anything else you can think of, include it! Here are my answers:

Once a week would be fine for me, but I know there have been times when I totally could have used twice a week, so I would like to have that option for highly stressful periods. I also think it would be cool to have a phone/skype session for if I go out of town, and I would love to eventually have my family included via speakerphone since they live out of state.

Since I totally love my new T's office, I would NOT want it to change! It's lit almost entirely of natural light, and has a lot of cool greens/greys as the color palette. Her desk is clear which I really like, and there is a pretty table with pretty rocks and pebbles on it. I really want to pick them up next time

I would want sessions to go up to 90 minutes if I felt I needed it.

Female T, definitely. I think the littles would feel like a male would be trying to take Daddy's place.

I really like the interpersonal neurobiology thing, though I still don't know much about it. Mindfulness seems to be working well too. I think play therapy would be totally cool, and would help me express myself better sometimes!

As far as groups go, I think it would be cool to have a bike ride group therapy, taking field trips and volunteering and stuff, where we would all just really connect to the world around us and nature. Maybe bike to the beach or lake and do yoga/relaxation stuff/grounding stuff.

dividedtruth89 wrote:How many times a week would you go to T?
Where would the sessions be? What would the environment/office look like?
How long would the sessions be?
Male or female T?
What therapeutic methods?(CBT, humanistic, EMDR, art, etc.)
What would the sessions include?(play therapy, movement, relaxation, etc.)
Would it include group therapy?

I would go twice a week, or for one longer session. It depends on what we would be doing. Some of the more intense stuff lately has been really hard to deal with. Fortunately, the T recognizes that and asked if I would prefer two sessions of one long one. My work schedule is making it hard, but we're going to try two for now.

I like my T's office. It's naturally lighted, but I don't like having a window behind me. Sometimes the children want to hide under the T's desk.

Length: 50 minutes or 90 minutes depending on what we needed to do. More intense memory stuff might need more time since I have a very hard time grounding.

Female. I don't trust men. (No offense to any of the men on this board.)

My T is humanistic and also does hypnosis and EMDR. It works well for me although sometimes I do admit to feeling a little weird about some of the things she wants me to do.

I would like to include more elements into therapy itself. I think play therapy would be effective for the children and might bring them out easier. Other than that, I do like what my T does. I got really lucky with this one.

No group therapy. None of us would talk except maybe Snow.

How many times a week would you go to T?
Six days a week. Either that or an intensive month-long stay in a hospital. In either case, I wouldn't be working.

Where would the sessions be? What would the environment/office look like?
My living room. Or any comfortably casual office.

How long would the sessions be?
Two hours.

Male or female T?
Straight male or lesbian female. Anyone who wouldn't possibly be attracted to me.

What therapeutic methods? (CBT, humanistic, EMDR, art, etc.)
EMDR, intensive. I've had years of the other stuff and it's been w-a-y too slow for me.

What would the sessions include?(play therapy, movement, relaxation, etc.)
Just EMDR processing of trauma memories. I'm hard-nosed about what I need.

Would it include group therapy?
Meetings with others with DID would be a nice supplement but not replacement for daily EMDR sessions.

How many times a week would you go to T?
Twice, definitely. I hated the week long break between appointments, it made me nervous.

How long would the sessions be?
I guess about an hour, hour and a half?

Male or female T?
Female without a doubt.

What therapeutic methods?(CBT, humanistic, EMDR, art, etc.)
Honestly, I'd like mostly talk. Art or play therapy might be nice, too. Writing always helps us. But nothing like EMDR or hypnosis until far, far into the process.

What would the sessions include?(play therapy, movement, relaxation, etc.)
It'd be nice to be able to be allowed to walk around. If the T was doing that, I wouldn't feel so self consious doing so.

Would it include group therapy?
Occasionally.

~Rage

How many times a week would you go to T?
At least twice a week for maintenance, three times a week if doing memory work.

How long would the sessions be?
1.5-2 hours. Before diagnosis, when we were doing one hour sessions, we nearly always ran over, because it took me 45 minutes to get everyone to settle down enough to start talking. Anything shorter than 1.5 hours, we spend the first 30-45 minutes opening up and the last 15 minutes grounding and get almost nothing shared, leaving kids feeling disconnected and abandonned.

Male or female T?
Older male T, but specifically my T, because the kids already love him. There is extreme negative transference toward females, because of mom. The (probable, because I don't believe what they show me half of the time) CSA stuff was mostly by males, but was for a limited time period in childhood, whereas the narcicistic emotional abuse and neglect from my mom was pretty much my entire childhood. It's kind of a dilemma, because I cannot feel emotionally safe with a woman, but it's a lot of work for some parts to feel physically safe with a man. So, I have to choose between there being absolutely no inclination to share anything about myself (woman) vs having these extreme transference reactions where I am drawn to be close to a father figure, but when the kids did that before with my mom's boyfriends, it got them abused. So, there is this tangle of both wanting and fearing affection from T. Anyway, at this point, I think it is impossible for me to even feel emotion in front of a female authority figure, so that precludes females.

What therapeutic methods?(CBT, humanistic, EMDR, art, etc.)
We do mostly talk psychotherapy and that works really well. Physical contact seems key to some parts, so some somatic work wouldn't be bad. My T is trained in hypnosis, but gave up using it as he doesn't believe in pushing the parts before they're ready. I wouldn't mind if he could just use it to teach me to relax, as I can't seem to figure out how to do it when my parts are near the surface. I clamp down very hard by istinct. I think certain parts might be helped by other types of therapy, like my poet might do well with some DBT. I wouldn't mind trying EMDR either, but my T doesn't do it, and the relational aspect of our work is a million times more important to me than what modality he chooses to use. He is very instinctive and attuned and that means more to me than what specific method he is using at a given point.

What would the sessions include?(play therapy, movement, relaxation, etc.)
Well, we already color. He is willing to go outside and walk or play catch, but I am too humiliated, as it would be out in public areas. He has offered to take the kids out to ice cream. He wants to get us into the toy room to pick out toys or games to play together, but I struggle with that too. I want to do it for the kids, but they always get scared they will "pick wrong" or "play wrong." I bring stuffed animals for the kids to snuggle when they're scared and T sometimes plays with them, makes them do things like pop out of my bag or tap me on the shoulder when I am distressed and have buried my head in my hands. Again, if he could teach me to relax, that would be great. I think a lot of the kids, if they could have their way, would spend half the session being hugged and held, otherwise they don't feel safe to let their emotion out. Like, literally I've only ever had my eyes well up, but have not cried even once in therapy, no matter how bad the stuff I'm talking about is. My crying is so stealth, my T has never noticed until I get a tissue to wipe my eyes. We have just had our first ever physical contact (a handshake) after over a year of working together. We may do a hug soon, but there is as much anxiety as desire there, so we have to go really slow.

Would it include group therapy?
Torn on this one. I'd like to have other DID people to relate to, but it also puts me into a state of denial, like my stuff isn't "bad enough," or that I'm copycatting other peoples' symptoms. It's why I kind of went silent here for a while. Even when I can logically track symptoms back to my early teens, I still have a Denial part convincing me that it's not true, so I have to be really careful and would much rather have one-on-one interaction to group interaction with others like me.

This is a great and interesting topic to think about! I liked the system I had when I was seeing my second T (my favorite one), so most of my answer are based off of that.

How many times would you go to T?
Once a week, unless I thought I needed to go twice a week.

Where would the sessions be?
An office-type room (preferably like my 2nd T's room). Paintings and pictures from my T's other patients on the wall, encouragement posters, toys in the corner, access to coloring supplies, comfortable chairs (I prefer them to couches), a desk with a computer on it. The walls would be white, but it wouldn't look too white or plain because of the pictures and posters. The carpet would be colorful, but not bright (like a pattern mix of reds and purples). It'd be a room I could smoke a cigarette in, too.

How long would the sessions be?
1-2 hours, depending on what we were talking about/working on.

Male or female T?
I'm actually not sure. I tend to open up more easily to males, but my 2nd T was female (as all my T's have been) and I was able to really connect with her. If I had a male T, he'd have to be a younger male, because older males tend to remind me of my dad easier and that makes me shut down. If I had a female T, we'd have to connect/"click" just right or I'd shut down as well. Older females and motherly figures make me clam up and feel uneasy unless I have a good connection with them right away.

What therapeutic methods?
I've never been treated for DID specifically, so I'm not sure. PTSD/coping with trauma treatment seemed to help me. Mainly, I need someone who will both talk to me and with me, and who won't try to integrate me. I had a CBT group that helped me, but I liked those methods for the group setting. I don't know how I'd like them one-on-one.

What would the sessions include?
Definitely relaxation and play therapy. I never really knew how to relax myself until I did different types of meditation with my CBT group. And I'd like to be able to switch during therapy and give everyone the freedom to talk with the T. Play therapy would definitely be for Cassie and possibly Lynn, since I know Cassie would love it. But mostly the sessions would just be talking. I definitely need someone who knows how to push me, though. I'm pretty cooperative and push myself, but with certain things I start to shut down so I'd need someone who could push my limits a bit.

Would it include group therapy?
I actually really enjoyed the set-up I had. Once a week I'd spend pretty much all day at my counseling office building. I'd have an hour of seeing my T, an hour or so break, an hour of seeing my CBT group T one-on-one, a half hour break, and then 1-2 hours of CBT group therapy. Sometimes it was a lot for one day, but the breaks in between would help me get ready for the next round of therapy, and sometimes I could finish covering something in group that I didn't get to finish in one-on-one therapy. I also liked getting a lot out, then spending that night recovering, and then feeling ready to take on the rest of the week.

Just someone who will talk to me as me and not her

~Poppi~

I need someone who will talk to Chloe but recognize that her feelings are not mine and that I talk sense into her so we don't go around behaving based on how she thinks and feels. I need someone who recognizes Chloe exists and that her aggression is fear and not irritability or anger. But right now anyone who is willing to believe things I say, listen without making assumptions and try to help would be a bonus, since I currently have nobody at all. X

My dream treatment is futuristic. The therapist spends many sessions doing lots and lots of diagnosis, then writes a prescription for custom nanobots or perhaps programs the computer interface of a booth that I step into for a few seconds of whole body therapeutic scan. I imagine the treatment being like current day therapeutic radiation treatments, all done in minutes.

How many times a week would you go to T?
Every day until we are healed. I like to do it fast and get it over with. I don't need freak out times or breaks.

Where would the sessions be? What would the environment/office look like?
I don't care at all.

How long would the sessions be?
As long as needed to talk to those inside. My T really does not need to be talking to me. I don't know anything they don't know!

Male or female T?
Either, as long as they are aggressive enough to get the job done. I don't need to be handled like I am a scared child. I do prefer men. I don't trust women at all. The Mother did far more abuse to me than my dad and he did a lot!

What therapeutic methods?(CBT, humanistic, EMDR, art, etc.
Hypnotherapy for the most part. Some EMDR for the PTSD many of my child parts have.


What would the sessions include?(play therapy, movement, relaxation, etc.
I don't need to play or do any of that stuff. The child parts play inside or come out and play in every day life. We need to communicate with each other and work through the trauma. If T pulls out the play dough I am walking out!

Would it include group therapy?
No way! I have over 20 of us. We have our own group.

I do most of this on my own at home every day, but seeing a T on a daily basis to help me with it would make things move even faster. I don't need to talk to them and tell them my daily woes. I am strong and have lived through much. That is not the help I need. I need to deal with the childhood I cannot remember yet and process that into memory.

As my T said "The amount of abuse you endured as a child is extraordinary."

This is nothing.