One way to obtain a therapist

General
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Greeting y’all! I am about to embark on an 8 week journey and am very excited. In my neck of the woods we don’t have a Cognitive Behavioral Therapist (CBT) that works with adults. I am not able to drive to the more populated counties in which there are several. My Neurologist strongly recommended I go to a CBT. I also know way too many therapists in my county and wouldn’t feel comfortable going to them, even if they practiced CBT.

But I have United Health Care as my Medicare provider. My plan allows me to have free therapy for 8 weeks. Yes it is a short time, but I am looking forward to having some tools to get over my issues, like feeling overwhelmed with chores or not being able to see what I have accomplished, and the big one - how to control all the stimuli that stops my brain from working! The therapist they hooked me up with is an LCSW which is a Licensed Clinical Social. Worker. The LCSW they hooked me up with concentrates on Cognitive Behavioral issues and mindfulness! I’m sure the older members remember the topic we started years ago on Mindfulness!

The company is called Able To I believe. They reached out to me yesterday and I jumped on the band wagon! It is done via phone calls. This means I can do it in the privacy of my own space. They personalize goals for the individual and not a set plan of action. For those members who cannot find a CBT or cannot access one physically due to driving limitations, this may also be a way to get therapy. Call your insurance provider and find out.

Big hugs to everyone,
Moltroub

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I am so happy for you. I am sure you will take advantage of every second you get. Eight weeks is a decent amount of time with a therapist. I hope you get a good one and you teach them a few things.

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That’s great! I hope that all of this works for you. Thank you for letting the group know. I know access to therapy is very hard for people to get in rural areas (I know it is in Canada) this sounds like a great solution.
All the best on your journey,
Bertie

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Thank you so much! And yes rural area have their challenges.

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Good luck, good to know there are options out there like that! Let us know how it goes.

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I will most definitely! Thanks so much.

All the best,
Moltroub

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Wishing you all the best for your therapy! Keep us informed!

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So my therapist called Friday and I will have her as well as a Behavioral expert for the 8 weeks. One 45 minute session with the Cognitive Behavioral Therapist and one session with the Behavioral Specialist each week. Having done behavioral work in the past, I’m hoping together they can give me new tools to use. BH has warned me to be nice LOL

Here’s to the future, my isn’t it bright!
Moltroub

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ROFL … seriously?

Congratulations, Moltroub. This is an opportunity worth grabbing with both hands! Let us know how it goes.

Seenie

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So first session down where we actually covered some things other than the med list, depression check, etc. my CBT therapist is going to research on how to get my visualization skills back! She shared she usually works with dementia patients at a facility.

I’m very excited!
Moltroub

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Here’s an update…my goal is to visualize again so I can draw and carve wood, hopefully do some pyrography, etc as well. My “homework” is to do simple small puzzles and I picked up a beginner’s drawing book. Found one on sale at Barnes and Noble for $8! Looking over the exercises, it reminded me of a couple more I learned in Art Class way back in High School. So the quest is on!

I also discussed a major stressor full of frustration and hurt pride that happened on Wednesday while I was on the tractor. Pamela, the Behavior Coach, helped me to see the positives and focus on what I can do when I talked to her on Thursday and it really helped my self esteem. It’s really nice to have people supporting one in a personal way. And Erika, the CBT, knows exactly what I meant about my thought processing being so different now then it was before my rupture, which I must admit is a relief!

Both are helping me set realistic goals as I always, and I do mean always put way too much on my to do list. I think it’s a list for the day, but turns out they aren’t always accomplished in two weeks LOL. Is it my age, or the need to rest so much? Does it really matter? It is what it is and I believe I will be better for this experience.

Get your pencils out and draw along with me!
Moltroub

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Ohh Moltroub I can see hints of me in your update. And although I tried to ignore that little voice in my head, it just kept getting louder and LOUDER. So I too had to put my hand up and say ‘I need help here’.

For an arrogant male like me, that was not an easy process. “I can do this ALL by myself” only I couldn’t, my frustration was HUGE and my pride took a massive hit. I’d never been taught any great coping skills, the easiest way I knew was to avoid the reality of it all. Drink it away or drug it away or just run as fast as you can. I tried all of those and Ohhh, what a mess. If there’s a right way and a wrong way you can be sure, I did it ALL the wrong way.

I was lucky, extremely lucky. Somehow I found this crazy woman who wanted a relationship with ME??? (She must be crazy) Then when this neuro journey started 6 months into the relationship I thought ‘It’s not fair to put her through this’ so I gave her ‘a way out’. Looking back I think, subconsciously, it was me getting ready to ‘…just run as fast as you can…’ again. But that crazy woman didn’t want ‘a way out’ (See, I told you she was crazy). So I couldn’t just pack up and run. I was going to have to stop and face it. So the neurosurgical journey began.

Post surgery ‘Arrogant male’ would not listen to others. I can be a very hard taskmaster and I’m hardest on myself. I do not have expectations on others and more than accepting of other people’s limitations, but my own?? No Way. I aim for that goal and I get there. Only now I couldn’t and the internal conflict due to this was nasty, the frustration was huge. I had to accept it all but HOW?? This was where I needed external help and I had to ask for it. I had to swallow my pride and that was a very bitter taste. But getting some external input from a counsellor was a must. I would have kept going over the same questions with the same answers as my only reference was me. Now, I kick myself for not asking for help sooner.

My ‘To do’ list has been (and at times still is) an issue but I like to think I’ve learnt to manage my own self expectations a bit better. Learnt different ways to accept what I can do rather than getting annoyed with what I can’t. Even if I only get 1/2 the task done, that’s OK. Because I can do the other half tomorrow.

And that ‘crazy woman’, well, she REALLY confirmed how crazy she was. She married me. That’s what you call a real sucker for punishment, putting up with me. Each anniversary I remind her "You’re ‘X’ years into your life sentence…’ She tells me she wouldn’t have it any other way. See, Crazy, I tell you.

Merl from the Modsupport Team
(P.S. Drawing used to be one of my things, I haven’t done for years now though. I also did pyrography for a while, but back then they called it ‘Pokerwork’)

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Merl, I’m guessing that woman of yours is crazy in love with you! We are really fortunate to have someone close to us in sharing our journey, aren’t we? I figure somehow, at sometime, I did something right. LOL

Poker work is a very old term here in the States. It harkens back to colonial days when they actually used a poker in the fireplace. I’m guessing Australia did the same. I’m guessing it came with them from Europe. I did laminate our vows on the back side of a couple pieces of wood in which I burned some Celtic designs the year after I ruptured. We found designs we liked and I just used carbon paper to transfer the patterns to the wood. I forgot to do the shading. Then I took a class at our local woodworking shop with Michelle Parsons who is fantastic. I highly recommend her books if you can get a hold of one.

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I didn’t have my session last week. Therapist became gravely ill and was taken to hospital. She thought it was food poisoning. The caveat for me is that since she doesn’t work in an office with a secretary, I received no heads up from the company that hired her. I did reach out via email to them and received a reply that someone was looking into the matter. I received a call from the therapist the next day. She wanted to reschedule for Wednesday but I nixed that as she would be with her toddler who was having surgery. I felt her attention should be focused on her child. It also meant that I could not receive a call from the Behavioral Coach as this is the company’s policy.

When I replied to an email sent by the company, I got into a little verbal tassel with the woman. I had suggested AbleTo have something in place to notify their clients should a therapist be unable to make it to the appointment should the therapist have an emergency. The woman said the therapist had notified me and rescheduled. This made me reply that it didn’t happen until I reached out first concerned for her welfare (pandemic, remember). Her reply insinuated I didn’t know what I was talking about so I stopped replying. The company then sent an email to rate the experience and I let them have it, but good! Basically I told them that I may be brain damaged, but am in no way stupid and the woman needed to learn to read and understand the English language.

Because I no longer trust their communication within the company, I sent a message to the Behavioral Coach telling her our appt was cancelled. BH didn’t think I should have to do it, but I didn’t want to waste her time. She already knew…

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Update - the behavioral coach is working with mindfulness centering around relaxation breathing. Next week she will do some guided imagery with me. I also have a little homework but it’s not bad, just noting when I use relaxation breathing. If you’ve read any reply posts I’ve made over the years, you will see the humor in this exercise. But it’s a good way to refocus and a great reminder to be aware.

The CBT therapist has found me a drawing exercise which may help with my relearning to visualize. It’s a bit frustrating but with talking to the Behavioral Coach, I can tweak it to where I am now and it does feel like it’s helping. Baby steps remember! If I take enough baby steps, I will eventually have a full stride.

Both are really positive and see any growth as a great thing. I cannot express how good it feels to see every day little things as a positive. No gained steps are ignored and it’s a great reminder and lesson to see not only how far I’ve come since I ruptured but to appreciate what I can do now. They also ah e me tell them not only my frustrations in trying to do something, but my success at things. We make a plan to deal with the frustrations and applaud the success. One of my recent frustrations was not being able to remember how the gaskets go on the little carburetor of the push mower. I had to use both a diagram and YouTube. Even with these aids, it took a couple of days instead of ten minutes. They were amazed I would even try it much less accomplish it and all I could see was the inability to do a simple job quickly.

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Hey Elaine,
You’ve just reminded me of something that was way back in the dark gloomy recesses of my mind.
Earlier I posted my ‘avoiding reality techniques’ ie drinking and drugging. I passed out one day and was taken to hospital. They couldn’t find anything physically wrong (They didn’t do a brain scan), but they found my stash. The hospital sent me to a D&A clinic to dry out and do a program (for 3 months).

Not that it was ever called a ‘behavioural coach’ but breathing, relaxation and visualization was all part of the program. That was 30+yrs ago and in reading your post I realised I still use some of those techniques today.

Me Too!! Then I’d get frustrated and annoyed with self because of it. Tasks that used to take me 3-4 hours can now take 3-4 days to complete. I ‘tinker’ with computers and electronics. A friend of mine gave me call couple of weeks back, he has this computer program for converting vinyl records to digital and needs to set it all up. It used to be that I’d have a play with the program for a couple of days and pick up the basics. I’ve had this program for the last 2 weeks and I’m still trying to fumble through it. I seem to pick bits up today and think ‘yep, I got it…’ then tomorrow POOF, and it’s gone.

I’ve been ‘Youtubing’ it all too :grinning: but each time I find a slightly different video, with a different bit of information or a differing technique. GRRRRRR :rofl: No wonder I’m frustrated :rofl:

Merl from the Modsupport Team

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Merl, YouTube is complicated! I try to save the ones I like or need in my library and then lose them again! LOL. I used to be a wiz with computers, now not so much.

I’m very excited to report I actually carved for several hours yesterday! BH is still talking about it this morning! I was having some problems with visualizing the cuts needed but then remembered to use the template and a picture of what I was trying to do. It’s a simple carving of a comfort bird. Whilst I don’t have the sanders available to me like the gentleman who did the article in Woodcarving Illustrated used, I decided a knife and some sandpaper would allow me to do it. It’s not looking exactly like he did, I’ve made the tail different and one can remove wood but not put it back LOL. I think the 2 year old won’t mind (or know) in the slightest.

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This week I’m on prednisone which makes me a good bit slower, more confused and not so cheery. We covered my successes again, covered how I do my relaxation steps and a little chart to fill out for the behavior coach. The CBT suggested tracing which I’m doing and I’m still working on the carving! I hope to get my energy level back in the right place and during the right hours LOL. The prednisone will end in a couple more days I guess and I should be right as rain for the weekend!

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Moltroub, this is an absolutely amazing account of a very significant journey for you.

Congratulations on embarking on it and staying the course.

Seenie

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Lord, where did the time go? I forgot to tell y’all that I finished up with my CBT therapy. I also finished the first carving and then worried that a two year old would hurt himself with the pointy parts, I did another of a whale and presented it to the mother the day of my fourth and final fix of the aneurysm that ruptured. I did a lot of coloring for the therapist and found the connect a number coloring book she wanted me to do. It’s very relaxing.

Remember my primary goal was to learn to visualize again…whilst it’s not what it once was, it has significantly improved in my opinion. Luckily, in this instance, my opinion does count LOL.

I don’t know if it was the last procedure, the therapy or a combination, but I’m actually dreaming again as well. Not the intense dreams I used to have, but any remembered dream is a good thing.

Would I do it again? Absolutely. Would I recommend it to others who have no access to a CBT? Absolutely. I think my favorite part was working with the behavioral coach. She was always upbeat and positive, guiding me to be more so.

I’m calling it a Win for my Brain!
Moltroub

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