In searching for understanding in re my ex's CPTSD, I need to share my experiences with therapists.
- In a poll of the 5 therapists I know, not one knows anything about C-PTSD.
- I am a smart person, so I understand the perils of amateur diagnosis. On the other hand, I can read . . . and come to some rational analysis about my ex's mental health. As well as my own issues.
- as for labels, if you can't define what is wrong, how can you fix it? The two T's involved in our joint and individual counseling seemed in retrospect completely ineffective because they could not see the big picture of c-PTSD. they got bogged down in the details of my being angry because my ex picked fights with me and did not address her need to control etc.
- I can only wonder at how things would be different for us if my ex had listened to me in re her mental health, or if the T's actually had the professional knowledge I paid them for.
MOST IMPORTANT: my ex can't get the help she needs if no mental health professional has ever heard of cptsd.. A year out from her walking out, this is what worries me the most.
- psychology is a science, not snake oil, but its' practitioners seem to get away with not keeping current. I wouldn't go to a doctor or dentist who was not keeping up with latest developments in their fields. But 20 years later after cptsd was first described? Boggles my mind.
My practical advise is to ask any therapist straight out if they have heard about C-PTSD and the people involved in that field of study. If not, run away . . . I think any treatment needs to be a thoughtful plan based on current knowledge, not, as my T said, "well, you can put 'complex' in front of any disorder, but it doesn't mean anything." OMG . . . Not going back to him.