Interlude #5: between sessions
Mar. 25th, 2014 01:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kaberettIn the approximate chronology of this series of posts, we have now had our first session with a new counsellor, and we are thinking about how to plan for the next one.
A habit I'm attempting to get into is writing up notes from counselling immediately after the session happens (which I then post to DW, because that's the easiest way for me to manage and think through these things): this helps me keep track of the patterns and metaphors I've been discovering, and means I can't forget useful things. Write-ups are based on very brief notes I make during the counselling session.
Over the days before my next session, I start Making A List. Usually longhand in one of the notebooks I carry around, because that's what works for me, but occasionally in a text file I sync between computers. I start out by reviewing the previous session's notes, and from there build it up a bit like this:
have I been keying particularly hard off any music/poetry this week? How's it been making me feel?
have I read anything (particularly relating to How Brains Work) that I'm trying to fit into my working model of myself?
Back at the beginning of March, this was my list:
... and obviously that's a lot of shorthand: but it's enough, in each case, to be a prompt for the tangle of attached thoughts, cf the way that "negotiating care needs" did indeed turn into an essay.
I've yet to start working on the next list - I seem to be antsy about doing it when I don't have a definite date in mind, though we're coalescing on the 4th of April - but for me the absolutely key thing is to give myself time to work on it, so things can pop up and get written down and not just vanish again.
I think I haven't made this explicit before, but I'd love to know how your strategies, if you have them, differ :-)
(Next: setting boundaries with counsellors.)
A habit I'm attempting to get into is writing up notes from counselling immediately after the session happens (which I then post to DW, because that's the easiest way for me to manage and think through these things): this helps me keep track of the patterns and metaphors I've been discovering, and means I can't forget useful things. Write-ups are based on very brief notes I make during the counselling session.
Over the days before my next session, I start Making A List. Usually longhand in one of the notebooks I carry around, because that's what works for me, but occasionally in a text file I sync between computers. I start out by reviewing the previous session's notes, and from there build it up a bit like this:
- have I taken any actions planned last session?
- have there been any developments with respect to situations/interactions discussed last session?
- has anything major happened since last session?
- Shit I Found Difficult
- Shit That Is Complicated
- Shit I Don't Know How To Feel About
- Shit I Am Proud Of
- Shit I Found Difficult
Back at the beginning of March, this was my list:
- Still Catch The Tide
- making a really bad yardstick in general - does this apply to counselling too?
- culture of mental illness among PhD students vs my lived experience
- negotiating care needs
- cleansing ritual!
-- seeds continue to germinate :-)
- craving interaction
... and obviously that's a lot of shorthand: but it's enough, in each case, to be a prompt for the tangle of attached thoughts, cf the way that "negotiating care needs" did indeed turn into an essay.
I've yet to start working on the next list - I seem to be antsy about doing it when I don't have a definite date in mind, though we're coalescing on the 4th of April - but for me the absolutely key thing is to give myself time to work on it, so things can pop up and get written down and not just vanish again.
I think I haven't made this explicit before, but I'd love to know how your strategies, if you have them, differ :-)
(Next: setting boundaries with counsellors.)
(no subject)
Date: 2014-03-25 03:45 pm (UTC)Have I read anything (particularly relating to How Brains Work) that I'm trying to fit into my working model of myself?
Those are actively chosen things (even if we don't want to choose them) that can really be a great indicator of where we are and where we need to go. I had not even CONSIDERED those things as part of analysis and rooting myself.
It's really interesting what our brains latch onto - and how they make us feel and what we try to do with them. SO GOING TO START PAYING ATTENTION TO THOSE THINGS NOW.
Also I love your breaking down of SHit To Talk About in those categories. So often my therapy sessions would get sidetracked and I'd feel like I didn't accomplish anything. If I carry that into future sessions, it will help me stay on track about the things I ACTuALLY need therapy for.
Do you mind if I copy/paste (link back to you) that to my journal part at some point?
(no subject)
Date: 2014-03-25 04:00 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-03-25 05:38 pm (UTC)