Comments for Grey Thinking

Comment on Anorexic Handwriting by icup

icup — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:50:28 +0000

wow my handwriting looks exactly like yours. although it tends to get a little more messy when i’ve been writing pages and pages. i also write in capital letters sometimes but its still quite identical to yours; which is lovely by the way. although i don’t tend to make it so pretty anymore, just writing in the same pen. for quite a while now i have only written in black felt tip pen (must not be blunt). and yes i have anorexia nervosa, so maybe there is a link. a friend of mine has ridiculously neat, similar handwriting and she doesn’t have an ED, although i know she has had anxiety issues in the past at least… in terms of the small writing, i used to often make my letters much taller and more narrow than typical “fonts”… i remember wondering about whether there was some sort of relationship, but i had forgotten until now. it’s interesting because if it is real, i doubt it’s often picked up…

Comment on Sharing therapists by H

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 02:23:56 +0000

I agree. I’ve been in a group a while back where all the clients where the clients of the therapist. I never felt, or sensed in the group, competition. The therapist was very skilled, and interestingly it WAS her clients that she had deep connections with in the group. Not saying she didn’t have others, but when she left us she told us the group was the hardest to say goodbye to and ended up crying. Same with me in my individual goodbye. I don’t doubt this was genuine as she was always very professional and skilled in what she did.
Now as a therapist myself, it is different with one of your clients in the room. Trying to keep confidentiality is on your mind (did she tell me this is group or individual, does the group know X Y or Z), and also because I know her better, I do struggle with am I treating her differently, if so how much so and how does the group feel about this?

Your post is very insightful and thoughtful as usual. It’s an interesting, valid and need perspective. It’s definitely something you should think about when considering doing a group that your therapist leads.

Comment on Sharing therapists by datagirl

datagirl — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 02:05:01 +0000

What a great post as usual. It’s interesting that you bring this up because that was something the group therapists i had in grad school brought up to me as I was transitioning from individual to group. One of the group leaders had been my individual therapist for the previous semester. The other group leader wanted to know if I had feelings about having to “share” my therapist with the other members of the group. Honestly, I hadn’t really thought about that, because I was just grateful that I could continue to benefit from her as one of my group leaders.

In my current situation, almost everyone in our group also has the same individual therapist (the group leader) and while I don’t worry about having to “share” him, it is odd when I have feelings about the other group members or the way the group is facilitated. So far I have been able to bring most of my issues to him during my individual sessions, but I feel disloyal to my other group members and I feel like it puts him in an awkward position.

Overall, I would have to say that from a therapist’s perspective its probably enlightening for them to see their patients/clients in both a group environment as well as in an individual setting. I think it would help them better understand us and hopefully improve the treatment they can offer us.

Comment on An Ode to Perfectionism and Procrastination by lct

lct — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:22:43 +0000

haha i am the exact same way. I have been a perfectionist as far back as I can remember, yet my room is constantly messy, and I am a horrible procrastinator. And then earlier this summer i developed clinical depression and eventually bulimia nervosa, which i think has a lot to do with my perfectionistism. I want the perfect body, perfect grades, perfect boyfriend, etc. I’m getting better at accepting less than perfect though, and i feel so much better now. I still am and probably always will be a procrastionator though!

Comment on Alternative coping – a tough sell by Now is Now

Now is Now — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 20:46:31 +0000

It’s so true what you say about burning out certain coping mechanisms. When a coping strategy is novel, it seems to work wonders…. until it doesn’t work at all. I am able to go to extremes with food…. and apparently with coping mechanisms too. (I had a sticker chart for a while too… then it started to make me feel a lot of pressure and backfired)

Comment on Alternative coping – a tough sell by C

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 11:59:34 +0000

Yup. I’ve been trying to work on dealing with the stuff I’m using my ED-habits to avoid. It’s tough, admitting to yourself that things hurt really bad and willing yourself to face that. Sometimes it seems much easier to distract myself with restricting or whatever. I started going to yoga again, as an alternative coping mechanism. But it s indeed a tough sell.

Comment on Alternative coping – a tough sell by Carrie

Carrie — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 03:49:09 +0000

Ha! Reading this reminded me that I should probably print out some more mandalas to color. Just google “free mandala coloring pages” for some good images. And, uh, I’m going to be 30 in several months, so we can be dorky and coping together!

Comment on A Treatment Refresher by herbal treatment for ed

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Comment on Underrated coping skill: card stores by Bella

Bella — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:57:13 +0000

You know what I like even better? Buying cards to send to people. Friends who are struggling — friends who are far away — friends who you just want to send cards to. And writing nice little messages inside, or putting in positive quotes / stickers / whatever. Makes me feel good AND makes the other person feel good.

Comment on Underrated coping skill: DVDs by Telstaar

Telstaar — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 06:31:59 +0000

You know once, I decided I was watching too much tv and so just stopped. Wasn’t that hard didn’t even really miss it. BUT I also realised I was getting more tired and more stressed then normal for the same sort of circumstances… I realised that I wasn’t getting my “check out” time that I would get in watching TV! It was NECESSARY for me to watch some easy going tv to just enjoy!

I too LOVE TV series on DVD, in fact I love them far more than movies (I’m in to character development). I think that the main thing with this is that it doesn’t prevent you living life. Like if the concept of checking out stops you going to work or engaging with humanity, its a problem, but otherwise I think its a BRILLIANT coping strategy! Along these lines, my counsellor made me schedule in regular thinking/nap times in the arvo’s when I could just lay in bed and think or nap if i fell asleep etc becaues I NEEDED to make sure i had regular time outs!

Go the check out time!!!

(PS I love your skills they’re great )