Can Counselling make you feel worse

Hi

A long time ago I had a life threatening Brain injury as a result I was not the person I used to be

I was basically left to my own devices no help from anyone even though I displayed what is now known to be the after effects of my injury

I learnt over the years to cope with injury over the years and every thing has been fine

12 months ago my best friend passed away suddenly and since then memories of how I was during the years following my accident came back with a vengeance. My GP checked my medical records and confirmed i had no post trauma treatment after the injury and referred me to a counsellor since seeing the counsellor I have recalled been told I should be in a mental hospital

I am now nearly always anxious that I will say something stupid and I will be carted of to psychiatric ward I know in my mind that this is irrattional but I cant shake the fear

I have been back to the GP (waste of time) who wants to refer me to a cognitive counsellor

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Yes, sometimes counselling makes you feel worse as it makes you recall some negative things that have happened which then leaves you thinking about them. I'm afraid I don't ave any solutions as to what to do about it, sorry.

Take care x

[BigPatDog]

After counciling try spend the day with sum1 that makes u feel good and talk to them about how u were left feeling after counciling I find that can be good support to sum1 going tru counciling!!!

[Mysteryreader]

I think there are counselors and counselors and not all of them have gone through vigorous training. Is there some way of finding out what working with a cognitive counselor would involve? Maybe also you need to think about what you want from the therapy. Maybe you want strategies for having a worthwhile life know rather than dwelling on what has happened in the past.

MR

[formidible]

The short answer is yes it can make you feel worse - at least in the short term. However your counsellor would be the first to agree that counselling isn't always easy but if you persevere with it you may benefit alot in the future. That said, counselling just isn't for everyone and sometimes memories of difficult times in the past or things that have happened recently are sometimes best left. Its really up to you to decide. I would recommend continuing with it for a short while and then make an informed judgement as to whether or not its best for you. There are lots of other treatments for anxiety so it wouldn't be the end of the road. Good luck.

[auralius]

why don't you volunteer yourself as an inpatient at a psychiatric hospital for a short time, people have done this in my area and have got the treatment they needed, the gp is governed by resources available and the resident counsellor at our surgery is only for low to medium ill patients,,

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Worth considering