Any experiences with Breakthroughs personal growth workshop?

August 19, 2011 6:00 PM

Any experiences with Breakthroughs personal growth workshop, or a similar program? Special snowflake details inside.

I've got two weeks in between jobs, and am once again wishing I could go to some sort of depression rehab boot camp. I'm in a really really bad spell right now, feeling similar to that post I linked to above, plus the all-too-familiar suicidal thoughts, the-usual obsessive thoughts, all-new panic attacks and nausea (whee) and crippling brain stuckness. I do plan on talking to the admissions counselors in that program, explain my situation, and get their advice. My meds doc heard good things about the program, and recommended I discuss it with my therapist. Therapist is on the fence, asking me whether or not I can handle it. Honestly, I don't know. I just want to get unstuck, and not feel so f-ed up and mentally stuck as I start this new job that I'm not entirely excited about. I already do individual AND group therapy weekly. Googling "depression rehab" (or reading related posts on askme) results in places that are far too expensive for me, plus they want a 20 day commitment. Other idea is to just take some other sort of trip, like a yoga vacation or something. Travel planning makes me anxious, but am trying to reframe it as "exciting!".

You are welcome to memail me if you dont want to discuss your experience at this place in public. Thanks.

(also, isn't it funny when you search for similar problems in askme and find questions you wrote earlier in your life? sigh.)

posted by ArgyleMarionette to Health & Fitness (3 answers total)

I am not Sigmund Freud. But I am pretty sure that you can neither "cure" nor make any significant progress vis a vis depression in two weeks time. I do not think that the underlying causes of suicidal thoughts, panic attacks, etc can be treated in two weeks time. It took you a lifetime to develop these bad thought patterns . It will probably take many months or years to develop thought patterns that work more positively for you. There are no quick solutions.

You mention that you are already in individual and group therapy. Perhaps your therapists are not working for you as you seem to be seeking and have a need for other solutions? If so, perhaps you should be looking around for a different therapist who is better able to work with you to help you develop to a better place?
posted by Poet_Lariat at 6:28 PM on August 19, 2011 [1 favorite]

If I were you and had $2750 to play with, honestly, I'd do something else... yoga retreat, backpacking, visit friends, feed the homeless, learn a skill, build a boat, something to get you out of your usual headspace. If you are doing individual and group weekly, that's a lot of hours of psychotherapy. It might help to do something different. ::shrug:: I am speaking from my own experience of course, but what helps me the most when I'm depressed is foremost my individual therapy, but also getting out there and engaging with life in a visceral way. New skills, taking risks, feeling accomplished. The retreat may be cool, but my guess is its not going to be the quick fix you are imagining it to be. What have you always wanted to do but never had the time or money? Do that.
posted by amileighs at 6:52 PM on August 19, 2011 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Follow-up: Thank you for your suggestions. I'm still trying to figure out what to do about the mode of therapy. Similar to what amileighs suggested I went to an ashram, did a lot of yoga and hiking and eating well, and it helped a lot.
posted by ArgyleMarionette at 5:55 PM on November 21, 2011