Step Thirteen Professional Help
  1. Take some time in your sessions to discuss the progress you have made to date in therapy. In what ways do you feel different than when you first started? What have you accomplished and what remains to be addressed? How is your life better now than before? What does your therapist say about your efforts to date? Are there any areas in your therapy or in your relationship with your therapist that make you uncomfortable or pose problems? Can you discuss them with your therapist?
  2. At this point you may want to consider changing your name. Names have important and interesting meanings to people. If your name has a negative significance for you, it can become psychologically burdensome and hamper your efforts to recover from your abuse. However, not everyone will want or need to change her/his name to allow the new sense of self to emerge. Discuss what your name means to you with your therapist and determine how comfortable you are with it. If you feel your name is a burden, you can consider changing it or finding a new meaning or association for it so you feel that it represents the "new you."
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Survivor to Thriver, Page 100
© 2007 THE MORRIS CENTER, Revised 11/06