Thanks everyone for your helpful feedback. Things have actually turned out very well with my therapist. I expressed that the ISTDP approach wasn’t working for me, and she was very receptive and supportive. For the last month we’ve switched over to AEDP (Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy), which she also specializes in.
Even though it has “accelerated” in the name, my T assured me we would take things as slowly as I need to. We’ve been doing Inner Child work, and working on strengthening our therapist-client relationship. I’ve also been reading a book called
It’s Not Always Depression by Hilary Jacobs Hendel and I’ve found it very helpful. It explains how anxiety, shame, and guilt block us from experiencing our core emotions of sadness, joy, anger, fear, etc.
Working with my T to help my inner child express her core emotions has been groundbreaking for me. If anyone reading is looking for another tool to add to their tool belt, I would recommend checking out AEDP to see if it’s right for you
