Good idea to contact my childhood psychologist? *TRIGGER!*

I saw a psychologist from age 6 until maybe 7 or 8, and then again very briefly again at 12. Much to my surprise, I discovered that Dr. P. is still practicing in the same town, in the same building as he was nearly 20 years ago.

I am wondering if it might not be such a great idea for my current psychologist/ therapist to contact Dr. P. My concerns: Dr. P. may not remember me at all. That might feel invalidating. Dr. P. might tell my current T that he saw no signs of abuse when I was a kid, also invalidating. Furthermore, he may not "believe in DID", invalidating as well.

Why I think my current T contacting Dr. P. might be a good idea: He may, in fact, have suspected DID when I was a kid (though it would be horrible if he had shared such suspicions with my family of abusers- I consider my ability to dissociate to be my "best-kept secret" from them). I would like to say hello to Dr. P., I really liked him and he gave me a safe place to talk, even if I didn't *feel* safe and so hardly ever did. I want to put the pieces together. I want to know if I ever told him that my mom's boyfriend Mel kidnapped me (Mel is still alive, and I would just LOVE to post his last name so we could all spam him with hate mail, but I guess that would be slander and I just want to heal).

I will share all this with my T, but I would like advice from the forum on how to proceed.

Thanks.

I think any truth is good. You should not dread what he might have thought or did not notice. It does not mean it did not happen. Any insight is helpful. As long as you can handle it. I know for me it would be good.

I think you should go and talk to him yourself though?

I think you should definitely do what you feel, but be careful. Make sure you know why you are doing this. Is it because you don't feel validated enough by your current T, or you aren't comfortable with their findings/diagnosis? Or is it just to find more truth? Please just be careful because who knows if you do have alters who lol maybe didn't like that psychologist...I'll share some of my own experience with you in a PM...

I agree with tylas. I wouldn't dwell on things such as if he might not remember you (he might have had a lot of patients since then), and even if he suspected DID, he might not have wanted to say anything until he felt sure of a clear diagnosis or until he could further confirm his suspicions. But still, I wouldn't focus on that. I'd focus on your goal, which is putting pieces together, and I'd suggest going in to talk with him in person yourself first. I'd make sure you, and everyone else possibly inside/with you, would be completely comfortable with that though, and I'd set up a couple safety plans in case you run into any triggers. Like possibly have a friend go with you but wait in the waiting room or something. Or, talk to your T about going to see your old Dr., and have your T help you set up safety plans, before suggesting that your T contact him. But only if you're comfortable with it.