Do you use written communication for therapy?

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Eloa
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07 Jul 2012, 6:43 pm

I do often mute when I am supposed to communicate and my psychologist told me that I should send her e-mails during the week about the issues I have as I cannot easily communicate verbally about issues I have.
Also when I mute in therapy she encourages me to write things down, and sometimes it works, sometimes not.
It feels a lot easier for me that way, though sometimes I can communicate verbally, but then it is more likely about an SI; and especially the one we share.
And she gets to understand me better, because writing is easier for me, so she is getting more information from me and when I see her each next time she doesn't need to ask how my week was, because I find it difficult to answer as a week has 7 days and each day 24 hours and I try to analyse how each day and hour was when I get asked this question, but with written communication she can address something directly from what I have written in the e-mail.

Anyone else using written communication in therapy?


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YellowBanana
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07 Jul 2012, 6:52 pm

I am not currently having therapy (though have been referred for such) but regularly writing and/or typing to communicate with my GP and psychiatrist. In one of the sessions with my psychiatrist when I was mute (rather than just having difficulty expressing myself) I was getting annoyed with myself and kept asking "Why can't I just speak?!?!". She said it was difficult for most people to talk about the type of stuff which we were talking about and so it wasn't surprising that with my particular difficulties that I couldn't talk at all. She said she wouldn't quite have known what to do if I suddenly started talking freely as she is used to me communicating predominately in writing or typing. I also had some counselling via email with a a workplace counsellor but I did not get on with her very well.


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Eloa
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07 Jul 2012, 9:04 pm

Thank you for writing your experience.


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Cogs
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07 Jul 2012, 9:51 pm

I often take a written explanation of whatever it is that I want to talk about with me and she reads it at the beginning. If I want to tell her how my week has been or give feedback on something from a previous session or whatever I'll generally include it in that. That then enables me to know I have given her the information I want her to have to understand where I am coming from and also gives me some time at the begining just to sit there and not actually be talking with her.


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07 Jul 2012, 10:38 pm

I am in therapy and have found writing to be very effective in communicating my thoughts to my psychiatrist. She knows and understands how difficult it is for me to convey my thoughts verbally, so she allows me to share some of my thoughts on paper. I always bring my typed thoughts to my appointments. Most of the time, we discuss the content, but my doctor will read them, when I cannot explain myself.

Writing also reduces the chance of misinterpretation, because I am much more descriptive.



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07 Jul 2012, 10:50 pm

I can go much deeper into my thoughts when I write them out as I process them. If I try to think deeply and speak at the same time, my attention is drawn to how my voice sounds or whether I'm stuttering or "tripping over words" as I put it. It's much easier to figure out what I want to say while writing in the quiet privacy of my room than to try to ponder the issue and come back with a thought while being put on the spot in therapy.


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metaldanielle
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08 Jul 2012, 1:46 am

No, but I am going to now. 8) That is a good idea. I have done drawings before, but not words. I often go mute when the subject gets serious.



Verdandi
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08 Jul 2012, 2:06 am

I had one session during which I was unable to speak, and typed instead. It wasn't really therapy so much as meeting with my case manager, who's helping me with issues until therapy starts. I found writing enabled me to say precisely what I wanted to say (well, write what I wanted to write) but slowed down the communication process.

Anyway, she said she actually prefers that I speak verbally (ugh) because I say so much random stuff that only peripherally applies to my point that she learns a lot about me from the randomness.



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08 Jul 2012, 2:42 am

I write to my PsyD, I find it more comfortable for me, I can write things I cannot say, but I do still talk in sessions, we go over what I've written to her as well as other things
I mail her letters and also bring writings in


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