of leaving the organisation?
Did it help?
How many of us has been through therapy as a result...
by petespal2002 11 Replies latest jw friends
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xandra360
I have and it helped enormously.
xandra360
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petespal2002
Hi Xandra,
Was your therapy as a direct result of leaving/wanting to leave, or was this a by product of the therapy?
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Phantom Stranger
I have been in therapy - don't know if I would call it "through", 'cause I don't think you're ever really done.
I was raised in the WTS. I have dealt in therapy with some of my issues with growing up the way that I did... but I did not seek therapy because of being a former Witness - in fact, I thought it was unrelated at the time - romantic struggles. Of course, everything ties together.
I will suggest that therapy, and the self-examination that goes with it, is a good idea for everyone (one of the reasons that psychologists in training go through it). I would hate to hear people say that "I had to go get therapy because of the WTS!", because that increases the stigma around getting your mind in good helathy condition. Go to the gym, you are OK. Go work on your mental conditioning, you are castigated (geez, used that word twice here today :)
When we are raised in the WTS, our parents will usually be pretty conditional in their acceptance of us and we often have low self-regard as a result. We can blame the WTS for this - they certainly don't help - but I beleive that I would have had this kind of childhood environment whether my mom had become a Witness or not.
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DanTheMan
Extremely dysfunctional people join extremely dysfunctional religions, I was one of them. JWism is like heaven on earth to a lonely, misanthropic 22 year old. I was the easiest fish they ever caught.
I've been seeing a counselor for the past several months, he has helped me somewhat, the best thing is just having someone to spill it all out to.
We talk about JW stuff, but my joining JW's was an infantile regression, so the main focus has been growing up and facing the fact that the world doesn't revolve around Dan.
I've read a lot of books since leaving, most self-help stuff out there is fluff but The Denial of Death by Earnest Becker is the most penetrating examination of the human psyche I've ever read. But it is not a book to give you hope, so I only recommend it cautiously.
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bikerchic
I have been to see a therapist and even though my reason for going I thought at the time had nothing to do with my religion she helped me see otherwise. The neat thing is that she happened to be from a religiously disfunctional family as well as her daughter-in-law was a JW. She was able to see the disfunctional stuff in my life that in her opinion was directly caused from being a witness. I won't go into detail, but interesting thing too is that she was able via her daughter-in-law verify JW beliefs which helped her in her therapy with myself and other JW's she had as clients.
I didn't see it at the time, but later after I finally saw the light of the troof and made my exit from the B'org, I could see how she really helped me to see reality and it made the decision to leave that much easier because I had seen the real light! LOL
We were in a twisted cult and it's only natural that our thinking would be twisted as well, some of us really need help to get beyond it. If therapy is for you it sure can help to get yourself de-programed with the aid of an expert, and if you do decide to go for therapy make sure it's with someone who has been there done that and knows how to deal with de-programing.
As far as JW's disfunctional members you have to remember where these members come from. You know door to door peaching.......the troof is going to sound great to someone who's life is going to hell in a hand basket and they have one foot on a banana peel. In other words I think it would only be appealing to someone who is just as disfunctional and the message the JW deliver.
Kate
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xandra360
Was your therapy as a direct result of leaving/wanting to leave, or was this a by product of the therapy?
Well I'd had therapy before and psychologists had suggested to me numerours times that my religion wasn't helping my situation. But as a faithful JW I would of course ignore this. Once I decided I wanted to leave the troof I was more willing to explore my feelings about it in therapy because the whole experience of separating yourself from that was pretty traumatic for me. I was so glad I had the support of health professionals at the time and would recommend it wholeheartedly to anyone.
xandra360
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oldcrowwoman
Yes I have and still am. I joined the jws coming from dysfunctional family. I fit right in. lol
Therapy is something I will be working with for the rest of my life. Its about the journey and not the destination.
I am a strong advocate for those who want to take care of themselves in engaging therapy. A huge gift to give to ones self.
Old Crow
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Gadget
I've had counseling in the past relating to abuse issues, and I've just been refered to go again in relation to xjw issues.
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Beans
This forum was my therapy 16 years later plus reading Apocalypse Delayed. I always had a pile of questions but never knew where the answers were. Once I found them I couldn't believe it.
Beans
