@Oaktree thank you for asking. I did get therapy for mine. I want to stick to the guidelines and cannot recommend any specific therapy. I was extremely grateful that my psychologist had specialisation to support people with trauma. Which was the precursor to me developing OCD and Panic. It wasn't easy - but it was so worth it. My psychologist said the following in our first session together "I don't have a magic wand, I will guide you but unless you (me) are willing to put in the hard work, we will not get anywhere. There will be difficult days and there will be difficult days. If you are ready to put in the hard work then I can help you. Otherwise, therapy may not be for you."
This really helped set the expectation for me. It was a journey about learning about myself, my emotions and acceptance. Acceptance was the hardest but also the turning point in helping me turn the lion into a kitten.
The relationship and connection with a psychologist is super important. Whilst I was lucky to connect with someone in Year 10 (who I still see today), I know this is not the case for everyone. Patience and Persistence - again extremely difficult to practice but reaps lots of rewards. It does take time to find the right match. Because therapy requires trust.
And a key thing for me was learning to speak to the therapist when things weren't working. I wasn't used to this - I was just expecting to go to the psychologist and hoping this worked and if it didn't there was something wrong with me... but communicating with my psychologist helped us work as a team to figure out what other techniques he could bring in to help or try different strategies.
It's an ongoing journey though - I started in Year 9/10 and I still have to work on things even now.
I know I haven't given you simple answers but hopefully something.
