|
I've always thought about getting therapy. I don't have tramuas or debilitating psychological issues, I think, but sometimes I really wish I could talk to a professional about some stuff that has been bothering me. Therapy intimidates me. Especially the cost. Therapists seem expensive, though to be fair I don't know what the going rate is. I have insurance through my parents for half of this year, then I turn 26 and have to rely on the plan provided by my employer. My parents work for the state government, so they have fairly amazing insurance. My employer has ok but not as comprehensive insurance. I'm slightly afraid of starting under one insurance plan and having to leave a practice/therapist because my employer's insurance sucks or something. I also don't know where to begin, or how long it will take, or the sort of therapist to seek out. I've heard of the merits of CBT, which seems down my alley. How do I vet therapists, or make sure the person I'm speaking to is right for me? I'd also like to hear about your experiences with therapy. Did it help? Do you still go?
|
#
?
Jan 30, 2015 15:37
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 3, 2024 19:09 |
|
|
I'm an advanced counseling psychology Ph.D. student with a Masters in the same area; I can try to help. I think anyone can benefit from therapy; I've been to it myself for over a year prior to starting my studies and it really helped me challenge some thoughts and sort some things out. There's something about sharing private thoughts with someone and not feeling judged and always having a positive regard for your well-being 1-2 times per week, I did a lot of work on myself and felt a lot better afterward, even though I started somewhat distrustful or fearful of what I might say or not say infront of a therapist. Different therapy styles offer different solutions or working models. While about 70-80% of your progress will not be influenced by the therapy model the therapist uses, a good 20% will be in the type of tasks or the type of experience you have. CBT (I have some knowledge in this) will challenge your thought process and have you write down (or at least notice) your thoughts, emotions, and physical actions prior to your problem(s) coming up during the day. It's a more active approach where you are expected to do the legwork about connecting thoughts, emotions, physical reactions, and report progress (or lack thereof) session to session. I'm sure wikipedia or the internet could give you better more accurate definitions but in my experience even CBT has a lot of variability in terms of actual therapist personality and approach. I'm in the middle of work right now but I'd like to help out and answer questions as able, I can check-in later and talk more about your other questions.
|
|
#
?
Jan 30, 2015 17:57
|
|
|
Two of my grandparents went basically their whole lives without giving therapy a fair shot, it was heavily stigmatized for their generation obviously. They both started therapy in their 80s and have REALLY benefited a lot from it. They seem to be much more comfortable with themselves and not as on edge all the time. I've been in therapy for about ten years, which to some people probably sounds like a long time. I don't really see any reason to stop though, its always been helpful and I find I really need at least one day a week where I'm forced to sit down and look at myself in the mirror(which is basically what my therapist is acting as).
|
|
#
?
Jan 30, 2015 18:09
|
|
|
Radio Talmudist posted:Therapy intimidates me. Especially the cost. Therapists seem expensive, though to be fair I don't know what the going rate is. I have insurance through my parents for half of this year, then I turn 26 and have to rely on the plan provided by my employer. My parents work for the state government, so they have fairly amazing insurance. My employer has ok but not as comprehensive insurance. I'm slightly afraid of starting under one insurance plan and having to leave a practice/therapist because my employer's insurance sucks or something. If you live anywhere remotely close to a decent sized university, many of them have programs to train graduate student therapists in preparation for a future job in that field. They usually take insurance and they usually charge much less than a therapist with their own practice. I've never felt that their quality was lacking. I've had more positive therapy experiences with students than I did finding therapists in the community.
|
|
#
?
Jan 30, 2015 18:28
|
|
|
There's a big stigma surrounding mental illness in this country, which is very unfortunate. If you had a major physical health problem, you'd go see a doctor, and everyone would be supportive, right? And then afterwards you might need physical therapy for awhile to make sure you were well. This should be no different for mental health issues, but once someone hears that you've got bipolar disorder or schizophrenia or even depression suddenly they judge you as being crazy or weird. In the case of disorders like major depression many people just assume you're being whiny and should just get over it. But I digress. Therapy is helpful. Sometimes it helps to have a soundboard to talk to who can help you work out problems you might have. We all have stressors from our relationships, jobs, parents, etc. And often times we don't have any outlet to deal with these issues. As a person with a few psychiatric diagnosed disorders, Yes I've been to therapy and yes I still go.
|
|
#
?
Jan 30, 2015 18:30
|
|
|
Thanks for the encouragement and insight guys. I've always had a vague sense that I may benefit from therapy, but hearing that other people go and sometimes go regularly really normalizes it in a way that makes it less daunting. It sounds silly, but the catalyst for my wanting to go is that I'm in the first serious relationship of my life and its really brought to the surface anxieties and insecurities I've always had but are now really interfering with my happiness.
|
|
#
?
Jan 30, 2015 23:00
|
|
|
Therapy is awesome. Just having a trained, but independent/impartial 3rd party to give you a different perspective on things makes it worth it to me. I've had a couple moments where I went "poo poo... I never thought about it that way... whoah"
|
|
#
?
Jan 31, 2015 00:14
|
|
|
Honest question, but what is the benefit of therapy? Is it just to have someone to talk to? Why can someone I'm paying to make me feel better, make me feel better in the long run? What sort of problems even require therapy? Is there a sort of "baseline" where you have to have a serious enough problem to consider it? Not being antagonistic, just trying to understand.
|
|
#
?
Jan 31, 2015 01:28
|
|
|
dk2m posted:Honest question, but what is the benefit of therapy? Is it just to have someone to talk to? Why can someone I'm paying to make me feel better, make me feel better in the long run? What sort of problems even require therapy? Is there a sort of "baseline" where you have to have a serious enough problem to consider it? If you have a problem where it becomes a major factor in your life. Like if it affects your job or your relationships that you're constantly down on yourself or you feel anxious, then you could benefit from therapy. That's only minor issues, if you have something more serious then therapy is definitely important as a treatment plan alongside psychiatry.
|
|
#
?
Jan 31, 2015 05:44
|
|
|
dk2m posted:Honest question, but what is the benefit of therapy? Is it just to have someone to talk to? Why can someone I'm paying to make me feel better, make me feel better in the long run? What sort of problems even require therapy? Is there a sort of "baseline" where you have to have a serious enough problem to consider it? The benefit that I have seen most frequently is that often a person has an idea that things need to change in their life, but they don't know what to change or how to do it. An impartial, trained third party is often able to see things that someone involved in the situation cannot, and because they are not involved in your life at all, they have a lot fewer biases on how or what you change. The reason that it's someone you pay for versus someone you just go to in a friendly fashion is that this makes it a transactional relationship rather than a more complicated one. It also gives them the motivation to genuinely help: word of mouth "this person helped me so much!" is the BEST advertising for a therapist. If they're not effective, they're not benefiting from that, and that means they're ultimately making less money. I've seen all kind of problems in my office, from simple stuff like "I'm not sure if my life is as good as it could be" to full blown schizophrenia with violent command hallucinations. There's really not a common baseline other than "I think this problem warrants a neutral third party's viewpoint."
|
|
#
?
Jan 31, 2015 16:43
|
|
thunderdome winner
|
How do you find a decent therapist? Are there credentials I should be concerned with?
|
|
#
?
Jan 31, 2015 18:00
|
|
|
The benefit of therapy as someone else said, is to have a space for yourself every week to work on something that's personal and private to you. You may not want to tell your friends for the nth time how depressed you are, or hit the bottle everytime you feel sad. Sometimes there's stuff you wish you could tell someone else, or stuff you wish you could get off your chest and get someone's opinion that may affect how others perceive you. That's where a therapist comes in.photomikey posted:How do you find a decent therapist? Are there credentials I should be concerned with? Depending on your income, A 'Licensed Counselor' (Masters level, LPC) may be entry-level and their abilities and orientation varies. They're typically more focused on a particular orientation / therapy style but are 'cheaper' professional options than a Psychologist (someone with a PsyD or Ph.D). A graduate student (most universities have a community counseling center to offer their students training), same as above, but they are supervised by a Ph.D. so you may get variable results. A Psychologist is someone who's done quite a few amount of hours of client work and theory/deeper level work (Ph.D, PsyD) and are likely the most qualified, but their rates tend to be the highest. Personally I don't think there's 'right' or 'wrong' therapists, just different styles and you may yet want to shop around and sit down with different people to see who works best for you in terms of style and empathy. Most of the work and progress is done through having a personal connection with your therapist regardless of their status or orientation, it's just that more experienced therapists will be in more demand, have less time, or charge accordingly. I'd probably do as follows: - "I need someone to talk to, I am depressed and my grades/job/relationship is suffering" -> LPC, grad student trainee - "I have girlfriend/marital/family problems stemming from (personality, insecurity, etc)" -> LPC, grad student trainee - "I am having serious thoughts of hurting myself or others or have deep trauma" -> Ph.D/PsyD - "I am having a mid-life crisis / trying to deal with grief or loss / have panic attacks" -> Ph.D/PsyD
|
|
#
?
Feb 1, 2015 08:45
|
|
|
DarkFact posted:I'd probably do as follows: Sorry if this seems dense.
|
|
#
?
Feb 1, 2015 22:12
|
|
|
DarkFact posted:A 'Licensed Counselor' (Masters level, LPC) may be entry-level and their abilities and orientation varies. They're typically more focused on a particular orientation / therapy style but are 'cheaper' professional options than a Psychologist (someone with a PsyD or Ph.D). YMMV but I haven't found much of a difference between the quality of a licensed social worker (as long as they practice a solid framework like CBT) and a Ph.D. psychologist. Quality varies tremendously from person to person and between different clients but the best therapist I've ever had was an MSW and the worst therapist I ever had was a Ph.D psychologist. For reference, I have severe bipolar disorder and past trauma. My current therapist is amazing and has iirc over 16 years of experience working with severe mental health cases and only has an MSW. She's constantly attending seminars by well-regarded psychology researchers/psychologists and keeping up with research in the field. I think experience can substitute for the extra years of schooling. Fluorescent fucked around with this message at 22:34 on Feb 1, 2015 |
|
#
?
Feb 1, 2015 22:31
|
|
|
Fluorescent posted:YMMV but I haven't found much of a difference between the quality of a licensed social worker (as long as they practice a solid framework like CBT) and a Ph.D. psychologist. Quality varies tremendously from person to person and between different clients but the best therapist I've ever had was an MSW and the worst therapist I ever had was a Ph.D psychologist. For reference, I have severe bipolar disorder and past trauma. My current therapist is amazing and has iirc over 16 years of experience working with severe mental health cases and only has an MSW. She's constantly attending seminars by well-regarded psychology researchers/psychologists and keeping up with research in the field. I think experience can substitute for the extra years of schooling. Completely agreed. There's a bunch of bad apples in any field, especially in mental health, when you think you know everything and assume an expert role, lessening the quality of therapy. That can happen to anyone though, I suppose it goes back to personality and how serious someone is about helping. Photomikey, if you're shopping around, try to ask others or yeah, yelp / internet might be helpful in finding someone who's open or better than others. There's plenty of qualified people, but finding one that might seem suitable for you and your needs can and should be a more involved endeavor. I just provided a broad overview of helpers and qualifications if it helps any.
|
|
#
?
Feb 2, 2015 01:26
|
|
|
photomikey posted:Then what? Yellow pages? Google search? Yelp? There are a few options (and I'm just assuming you're in the US): -Ask for a referral from your general practitioner -Find a list of covered mental healthcare providers from your insurance company. They should have reviews, but usually it's just pick whichever one seems the most appealing. If you like to talk to a woman, pick a woman, etc.
|
|
#
?
Feb 2, 2015 06:36
|
|
|
I've heard that some therapists even offer a sliding scale for payments, with reduced payments for lower-income folk? If it isn't too personal to divulge, what do you guys typically pay out of pocket for your visits? I know this will vary with insurance coverage but I'm very curious.
|
|
#
?
Feb 2, 2015 15:15
|
|
|
hundred bucks an hour seems to be the average. But I'm in California. Maybe everyone else will scoff.
|
|
#
?
Feb 2, 2015 17:40
|
|
|
Radio Talmudist posted:I've heard that some therapists even offer a sliding scale for payments, with reduced payments for lower-income folk? No-Insurance runs $120 an hour in my area of Pennsylvania with a PhD. Insurance will vary of course, but mine in particular pays 50% so I owe $60 per visit. If you have insurance, make sure you look into whether you need a referral or Insurance pre-approval to see a therapist. I had to have both. Don't be afraid to shop around and have sessions with a few different people at the beginning until you find someone you click with. At $100-120 a pop, you want to make it worth your time and money.
|
|
#
?
Feb 2, 2015 18:16
|
|
|
Sundae posted:No-Insurance runs $120 an hour in my area of Pennsylvania with a PhD. Insurance will vary of course, but mine in particular pays 50% so I owe $60 per visit. If you have insurance, make sure you look into whether you need a referral or Insurance pre-approval to see a therapist. I had to have both. I always assumed people visited their therapists on a weekly basis, but at 60 bucks a pop I wonder if sometimes people opt for two or three sessions max or maybe monthly visits? Can those still be effective?
|
|
#
?
Feb 2, 2015 18:41
|
|
|
Radio Talmudist posted:I always assumed people visited their therapists on a weekly basis, but at 60 bucks a pop I wonder if sometimes people opt for two or three sessions max or maybe monthly visits? Can those still be effective? It depends on what you're going to therapy for, severity, and what you need/want out of it. Also, your insurance will likely cap your total visits per year at 26, meaning the best you can do is bi-weekly if it's a long term thing. Too much info probably, but I was going for a generalized anxiety disorder. I started out weekly for the first month while I learned what the hell I was doing, how to control myself and how to identify panic attacks and whether to stop them ahead of time, coping strategies, etc. Then I switched to bi-weekly update meetings and a more strategic "how do you force yourself to get better" sort of approach. Two months of that, and then I went to monthly check-ins / "someone to talk to" sorts of meetings. (My new insurer is a complete fucker and won't let me see my therapist anymore, so technically I'm doing zero visits per month since mid-January.  )
|
|
#
?
Feb 2, 2015 19:57
|
|
|
dk2m posted:Honest question, but what is the benefit of therapy? Is it just to have someone to talk to? Why can someone I'm paying to make me feel better, make me feel better in the long run? What sort of problems even require therapy? Is there a sort of "baseline" where you have to have a serious enough problem to consider it? I think every single person could find a benefit in therapy no matter how "normal" they think they are. Everybody has something about themselves they'd like to work on, and if you don't then that's a problem unto itself. Not everybody goes just to feel better or be less depressed. A therapist isn't going to fix all your problems for you, its where you are given the tools to fix them yourself. So, no, there's no "baseline" except for your own personal feelings(and resources; some people simply can't afford it) about getting help. If you can let go of the idea that seeing a professional is a failure, or a weakness, then there really isn't any problem too small for a therapist.
|
|
#
?
Feb 2, 2015 20:42
|
|
|
What is it that people have faith in though...is it an individual therapist, who they are and what they stand for and how to be like them.. or is it Therapy, because it's Scientific, or is it the power to pay someone to have to listen to all your nonsense? I can never figure it out from people what they believe in so strongly. I'm just playing dumb when I say that though, I think they just say it because others think it and they Want To Believe. edit - that's unfair, it's important to have someone to talk to sometimes I guess, but the overprescription and overreliance on "medical professionals"is what I find to be pointless. the worst thing is fucked around with this message at 00:30 on Feb 3, 2015 |
|
#
?
Feb 2, 2015 23:40
|
|
|
Radio Talmudist posted:I've heard that some therapists even offer a sliding scale for payments, with reduced payments for lower-income folk? I've worked out various deals with different therapists over the years. When I went to uni, in order to see a grad student or one of the Ph.D. psychs in the clinic, the first five visits were free and then it was 25$ from there. With another therapist I saw outside the school, she usually charged iirc 150$ for treatment, but because of my lack of income she went down to 50$ for me. Another therapist I had let me get away with just paying 10$ a month for the services of the both him and my psychiatrist. I currently don't pay anything to see my current therapist and psychiatrist because medicaid which is nice.
|
|
#
?
Feb 3, 2015 04:34
|
|
|
Tautologicus posted:What is it that people have faith in though...is it an individual therapist, who they are and what they stand for and how to be like them.. or is it Therapy, because it's Scientific, or is it the power to pay someone to have to listen to all your nonsense? I can never figure it out from people what they believe in so strongly. I'm just playing dumb when I say that though, I think they just say it because others think it and they Want To Believe. If I didn't feel like going to therapy was helping me I'd stop tomorrow, so I don't really get your point. There's no faith involved, going to therapy has helped me in very tangible ways so the term doesn't really apply. I don't want to be like my therapist, in fact I don't even know much about him personally. As you said, he's someone who I can make an appt. with every week and talk about my most personal problems with, and that's extremely valuable on its own. The fact that you call these issues "nonsense" indicates you don't really have a grasp of what mental health means and how important it is in a person's life. Thinking of your personal issues(we all have them, I truly believe that) as "nonsense" is a way of protecting yourself. Its a way to dismiss problems as unimportant and cover for the fact that you feel like a failure for not being able to work your way through them on your own. It is liberating when you can come to terms with the idea that getting help is not a personal failing or a weakness. From what I understand its a pretty common roadblock, I know for me it was. And going to therapy doesn't mean taking drugs necessarily. I've been going for years and I don't take anything. Basebf555 fucked around with this message at 18:18 on Feb 3, 2015 |
|
#
?
Feb 3, 2015 18:10
|
|
|
In my case, I had concrete goals going into it. I wanted someone to help me figure out how to handle the panic and anxiety issues, teach me approaches to self-management / recognition of causes, etc. I've had my fair share of injuries and physical therapy stints before (college sports will do that to you), but I'd never experienced anything in the mental / neurological spectrum before. Sprained ankle? Easy. Frayed rotator cuff? lovely, but easy enough. Panic attack? WTF is that? I had no idea how to deal with that sort of thing because I'd never been exposed to it before. The first time you have a panic attack, you think there's something seriously wrong with you. I went to the emergency room thinking I was having a heart attack or a severe blood clot or something. In my mind, that explained all the weird issues I'd been having for the multiple months before that, but there wasn't anything there. Every physical health examination came back clean, but I knew I wasn't getting "better" because I kept going home and dealing with the exact same poo poo every day. I dropped over 30 pounds in less than two months during that period. Anyway, to pull that all back together: The reason I went to a therapist is because they have experience in dealing with that sort of stuff. They can provide helpful approaches for how to manage it, teach you about what's happening to you, and they know what it feels like. It's not a case of looking for sympathy or anything, but rather just seeking out the sort of expert who can show you how to treat it. I'm on a temporary medication (not at the therapist's recommendation) while my body acclimates to normality again, but most of what I got out of the therapist was an evaluation of potential stress sources, ways to identify what I'm feeling / how to separate anxiety/panic symptoms from other physiological conditions, etc etc. Basically, a way to cope, mentally, with stuff I hadn't experienced before. That's the big benefit of therapists to me. I don't need a sounding board or anything, but I did need someone who'd experienced that kind of stuff and worked with it before to explain to me what the hell was going on.
|
|
#
?
Feb 3, 2015 18:45
|
|
|
Basebf555 posted:If I didn't feel like going to therapy was helping me I'd stop tomorrow, so I don't really get your point. There's no faith involved, going to therapy has helped me in very tangible ways so the term doesn't really apply. I don't want to be like my therapist, in fact I don't even know much about him personally. As you said, he's someone who I can make an appt. with every week and talk about my most personal problems with, and that's extremely valuable on its own. The fact that you call these issues "nonsense" indicates you don't really have a grasp of what mental health means and how important it is in a person's life. Maybe you wanna feel special and going to a therapist is a good place to talk about yourself for a while and feel how special you are. And therapists are trained to encourage that cause they don't know what else to do. But outside of that therapists office you feel like just another joe. Thats my take on why its so popular these days. Not saying you're not special, who knows..but trying hard to be special like most people do is what gets them into their "mental problems" in the first place.
|
|
#
?
Feb 4, 2015 08:39
|
|
|
Tautologicus posted:Maybe you wanna feel special and going to a therapist is a good place to talk about yourself for a while and feel how special you are. And therapists are trained to encourage that cause they don't know what else to do. But outside of that therapists office you feel like just another joe. Thats my take on why its so popular these days. You have a serious misunderstanding of therapy. If there is anything therapy teaches you it is the knowledge that the problems you are having are completely within the known spectrum of human experience. That's how they are equipped to deal with it, because they study the many ways your brain and thought patterns can become an obstacle to finding happiness, and they are experienced enough to find similarities with their previous patients. When I started therapy I fully believed that there was something fundamentally and inescapably wrong with me, that I was *special*, in a sense. But what I actually needed to hear was that I was just an ordinary guy with an illness and some traumas, like so many others, and like so many others I could get better with some help from outside. And then I did. fspades fucked around with this message at 11:31 on Feb 4, 2015 |
|
#
?
Feb 4, 2015 11:29
|
|
|
fspades posted:You have a serious misunderstanding of therapy. If there is anything therapy teaches you it is the knowledge that the problems you are having are completely within the known spectrum of human experience. That's how they are equipped to deal with it, because they study the many ways your brain and thought patterns can become an obstacle to finding happiness, and they are experienced enough to find similarities with their previous patients. When I started therapy I fully believed that there was something fundamentally and inescapably wrong with me, that I was *special*, in a sense. But what I actually needed to hear was that I was just an ordinary guy with an illness and some traumas, like so many others, and like so many others I could get better with some help from outside. And then I did. Hm ok that's reasonable to me. I think the reason I find your response reasonable and others a little off the wall is that you talk about it in the past tense and with clear goals and aims from your therapy (or at least a general aim with a possible end, an intent to move on), kind of a "get in and get out" attitude which I respect. But some of these people seem to treat their therapist like the wallpaper in their apartment, a crucial and inescapable part of their life that they've invested so much time and attention into the relationship with them that they can't understand anymore why someone wouldn't have a therapist. So everyone in these forums cries "therapy therapy therapy" without having any tact or precision about it. Just *any* therapist (at first). the worst thing is fucked around with this message at 11:47 on Feb 4, 2015 |
|
#
?
Feb 4, 2015 11:44
|
|
|
Tautologicus posted:Hm ok that's reasonable to me. That's not entirely fair though. I currently do not go to therapy because I need it less than I did during my worst period, and it is a huge financial burden. I still have problems that can be tackled by therapy but I opted to deal with them in my own slow, meandering way. But if I had the time, money and found the right therapist, then sure, I wouldn't say no to therapy. You're getting guidance from an expert in a controlled and safe environment; of course it's going to have some benefit for whatever you are after.
|
|
#
?
Feb 4, 2015 12:06
|
|
|
fspades posted:That's not entirely fair though. I currently do not go to therapy because I need it less than I did during my worst period, and it is a huge financial burden. I still have problems that can be tackled by therapy but I opted to deal with them in my own slow, meandering way. But if I had the time, money and found the right therapist, then sure, I wouldn't say no to therapy. You're getting guidance from an expert in a controlled and safe environment; of course it's going to have some benefit for whatever you are after. Being a therapist doesn't automatically make them an expert on much of anything, is what I was trying to get at. It has to do with the individual therapist and what they can tell you. What is always strange to me is how no one talks about this or that individual person and their unique take on mental health and how it helped them, imploring others to seek them out. It's always this paint by numbers seek *any* therapist, as if..what exactly? has what you are looking for? So it seems to be that people want to talk about themselves to just *anybody*..because they couldn't all be experts by virtue of having some masters or Phd in whatever. What is it they are experts on? I don't believe the answer is so easy by the way.
|
|
#
?
Feb 4, 2015 13:16
|
|
|
Never mind the answer is going to be that they are experts in their individual field (drug addiction, abuse, etc)..but that's still seeking a field first before it's seeking a person. I went to a harvard trained psychologist once as part of getting medboarded out of the military..i forget what he specialized in but it was relevant. He insisted up and down that i had epilepsy and that I needed to get an MRI with his guy and only him, no one covered by my insurance. I've never had a siezure in my life or anything close to epilepsy ever. He had no idea what I was talking about. He kept sending bills and I never paid them. He also promised he would charge half price and then reneged soon after. I thought he was a fool. Harvard PHD, was on the faculty. Tried to pull rank on me "ive been in this field for 40 years" etc etc. But people believe them just because of their degrees and titles, and go along for a ride. the worst thing is fucked around with this message at 13:53 on Feb 4, 2015 |
|
#
?
Feb 4, 2015 13:50
|
|
|
Tautologicus posted:Being a therapist doesn't automatically make them an expert on much of anything, is what I was trying to get at. It has to do with the individual therapist and what they can tell you. What is always strange to me is how no one talks about this or that individual person and their unique take on mental health and how it helped them, imploring others to seek them out. It's always this paint by numbers seek *any* therapist, as if..what exactly? has what you are looking for? So it seems to be that people want to talk about themselves to just *anybody*..because they couldn't all be experts by virtue of having some masters or Phd in whatever. What is it they are experts on? I don't believe the answer is so easy by the way. You have a good point in that each person is different, and not every therapist is a good fit for every patient. Sometimes that is glossed over but it shouldn't be, you're right about that. Finding a therapist that is right for you is a major part of getting something out of the whole thing. You seem hung up on whether or not therapists are "experts" but it depends on what you're looking to get out of therapy. Personally I just like knowing that every week I have a time set aside to talk poo poo out, and the fact that the person is a professional who isn't a part of my personal life is a positive, it allows me to open up and attack my issues honestly without pride getting in the way. You're right in that a person doesn't need a fancy degree or to be much of an expert to do that, but that's not important to me. Therapy is a broad term and there are a lot of ways to go about it, it doesn't always have to be like that one time you got sent to a psychologist that was an rear end in a top hat. Therapy is very important in my life and I have no immediate plans to stop going. Money aside(lets assume its not an issue), why is that a problem? If you had something good going on in your life and you had no reason to stop, why would you? My guess would be that this is still a hang-up about thinking of yourself as weak. Going to therapy for a limited time to work out a specific issue is alright because its a temporary weakness, but continuous therapy without end just means you're a weak person in general.
|
|
#
?
Feb 4, 2015 16:22
|
|
|
Well i could see that psychologist was emblematic of a whole system. He was top of the top, harvard medical school faculty. But your other points are fair enough. And it's not an issue. As long as you acknowledge the limitations and biases then it can't be an active detriment or anything. For me, it's not a pride thing to not want to deal with mental health professional experts, it's the understanding that most if not almost all are more interested in shoring up their view of the inner and outer world than they are meeting someone where they're at. Anyway I'm just trying to broaden horizons, therapy has its time and place. Just don't let them steal your integrity from you and then rent it back to you.
|
|
#
?
Feb 4, 2015 16:53
|
|
|
Tautologicus posted:...it's the understanding that most if not almost all are more interested in shoring up their view of the inner and outer world than they are meeting someone where they're at. I don't know about "most" or "all", but for sure this is a big issue with some therapists that in my opinion prevents them from being as useful to the patients as they could be. I went through two therapists who I felt were much too rigid in how they handled the sessions, their worldview was definitely influencing their style of therapy in a way that I didn't like. In every profession you'll have your incompetent people and some that are in it for the wrong reasons, and then some that are in it for the wrong reasons AND incompetent. No getting away from that.
|
|
#
?
Feb 4, 2015 17:36
|
|
|
Tautologicus posted:Maybe you wanna feel special and going to a therapist is a good place to talk about yourself for a while and feel how special you are. And therapists are trained to encourage that cause they don't know what else to do. But outside of that therapists office you feel like just another joe. Thats my take on why its so popular these days. You had one seriously bad therapist if that was your take on it, or maybe I had an awesome one. No idea. Mine was basically like, "Okay - you're clearly having stress-related anxiety. I see this all the time, nothing special or unique, and from all your lead-up diagnostics, you know there's no serious health issue. Let's practice these skills over the next few weeks, practice them at home, etc. Here's your homework. Now, follow along while I explain what your body is doing. Do you know anything about the endocrine system, or should I explain the basics there?" Maybe I got lucky on having someone who easily knew how to communicate with me and didn't really coddle me at all, but my experience was completely unlike what your posts seem to describe. Also to be fair, it's not like I'm still going anymore. I got the answers I needed, got myself under control, and now I'm recovering just fine.
|
|
#
?
Feb 4, 2015 17:47
|
|
|
The last time I tried to schedule an appointment for therapy all the doctors I called were booked full well into this year or simply just not taking new patients period. You guys make it sound like I can "shop around" for therapists and set up appointments for the next month once a week with a different person until I find one I click with but in reality it's more like "sure, we can take you in how's April sound?"
|
|
#
?
Feb 5, 2015 16:30
|
|
|
Boris Galerkin posted:The last time I tried to schedule an appointment for therapy all the doctors I called were booked full well into this year or simply just not taking new patients period. You guys make it sound like I can "shop around" for therapists and set up appointments for the next month once a week with a different person until I find one I click with but in reality it's more like "sure, we can take you in how's April sound?" In my opinion, you should still shop around even if it's slower. If the person you're trying to see sucks and can't help you, it doesn't much matter if they're the first ones available. Schedule like 3-4 people months in advance and then just cancel if you like the first one that you get to see. It sucks when your area is swamped with patients or short on doctors, though -- I remember that being a pain in the rear end when I was trying to get a primary care doctor back in Connecticut for general checkups. Took six months just to get a doctor to even look at me. Out here in Pennsylvania, though, I haven't had to wait more than two weeks for an appointment for anything except seriously specialized work. Balance table and rotary chair testing for my extreme vertigo (which ended up being a side-effect of the anxiety syndrome) took about 3 months to get scheduled, but nothing else has been bad at all out here.
|
|
#
?
Feb 5, 2015 17:34
|
|
|
Boris Galerkin posted:The last time I tried to schedule an appointment for therapy all the doctors I called were booked full well into this year or simply just not taking new patients period. You guys make it sound like I can "shop around" for therapists and set up appointments for the next month once a week with a different person until I find one I click with but in reality it's more like "sure, we can take you in how's April sound?" What region are you in? Some therapists do phone or Skype sessions, so if you want to speak with someone sooner then that's an option. But body language is important so an in-person session would be a lot more useful.
|
|
#
?
Feb 5, 2015 20:52
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 3, 2024 19:09 |
|
|
Tautologicus posted:Never mind the answer is going to be that they are experts in their individual field (drug addiction, abuse, etc)..but that's still seeking a field first before it's seeking a person. Harvard's Psychology program isn't APA accredited (if it's not APA accredited, it's not really worthwhile, at least for clinician purposes since it means the quality does not meet the minimum expected requirements of the American Psychological Association). So your story rings very true in the sense that ethics, morals, and values of clinicians trained in non-APA accredited schools may have less skill, tact, etc. The best therapists are the ones who encourage their clients not to rely on them and aim to get them back (sooner or later depending on presenting concerns) back out into the world feeling better than how they came in, as opposed to stringing them along forever hoping for continued paychecks. If you're having trouble finding therapists, try your local university's counseling center. Most in my experience do offer cheap graduate level therapy/counseling services to the community, and you may yet request someone else if you don't click with your particular therapist. These students do great work and are supervised by a licensed clinician, so you're not just being a guinea pig for someone; you can get (mostly) good quality therapy.
|
|
#
?
Feb 6, 2015 07:32
|
|