How to Open Up to a Therapist?

Published January 5, 2014

Question by Annie: How to open up to a therapist?
…when you have social anxiety? I went to meet my therapist and have my first session today to try and get rid of my social anxiety, and I was paying more attention to the anxiety I was feeling about the one-on-one situation rather than the information he was telling me. I couldn’t open up because of this anxiety..I’m beginning to feel like curing my anxiety is helpless. How do I relax and open up?

Best answer:

Answer by Tayylurh
I too have anxiety, and have had it for the past 10 years.
Have someone you are comfortable with go into the room with you, so you feel more relaxed.
Get to know your therapist, he is there to help you, not judge you.
Ask about the medicine Zoloft. It works wonders, and gets rid of your anxiety almost overnight!
Take about 10 breaths per minute each time your heart starts to race (it will slow down your heart rate and calm you down)
Good luck and I know you’ll be fine soon!

Answer by OwlBear
There is a drug called MDMA that can help with this exact problem.

It has been used successfully by therapists in the past before some idiot politicians made it illegal for doctors to prescribe.

It makes you feel loving and safe and really helps you open up. It would be extremely useful for patients who have trouble opening up to their therapist. Unfortunately, the government in their infinite wisdom decided to make this drug illegal even for doctors to prescribe, so you can’t get any of it.

You can buy it on the street as ecstasy, but unfortunately with street drugs, you never know what you’re really getting.

From the wikipedia article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mdma#Medical_use
There have long been suggestions that MDMA might be useful in psychotherapy, facilitating self-examination with reduced fear.[9][10][11] Indeed, some therapists, including Leo Zeff, Claudio Naranjo, George Greer, Joseph Downing, and Philip Wolfson, used MDMA in their practices until it was made illegal. George Greer synthesized MDMA in the lab of Alexander Shulgin and administered it to about 80 of his clients over the course of the remaining years preceding MDMA’s Schedule I placement in 1985. In a published summary of the effects,[12] the authors reported patients felt improved in various, mild psychiatric disorders and experienced other personal benefits, especially improved intimate communication with their significant others. In a subsequent publication on the treatment method, the authors reported that one patient with severe pain from terminal cancer experienced lasting pain relief and improved quality of life.[13]

Three neurobiological mechanisms for the therapeutic effects of MDMA have been suggested: “1) MDMA increases oxytocin levels, which may strengthen the therapeutic alliance; 2) MDMA increases ventromedial prefrontal activity and decreases amygdala activity, which may improve emotional regulation and decrease avoidance, and 3) MDMA increases norepinephrine (NE) release and circulating cortisol levels, which may facilitate emotional engagement and enhance extinction of learned fear associations.”[14]

The first phase-II double-blind randomized controlled clinical trial into the potential therapeutic benefits of using the drug as an augment to psychotherapy showed that most patients in the trial given psychotherapy treatment along with doses of MDMA experienced statistically significant reductions in the severity of their condition after two months, compared with a control group receiving psychotherapy and a placebo.[15] The authors concludes “MDMA-assisted psychotherapy can be administered to posttraumatic stress disorder patients without evidence of harm, and it may be useful in patients refractory to other treatments.”[15]

The possible therapeutic potential of MDMA is being tested in several ongoing studies, some sponsored by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). Studies in the U.S., Switzerland, and Israel are evaluating the efficacy of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for treating those diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or anxiety related to cancer.

Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!

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