Experience with 3rd world country therapists?

[joelover]

Years of isolated coping only lead me downhill and this year i came too close to ctb. My small family of four really only have each other so breaking them by ctb is the last thing im doing no matter how badly i want to. My parents lived terrible, "bottom of Maslow's hierarchy pyramid" kind of childhoods so their emotional support can only get me so far (bless their hearts). I can't let what happened happen again so this is the first time I'm seriously considering professional help.

Problem is i live in a country that stigmatizes orientations I identify with and beliefs that I adhere to. I believe these are things i need to disclose to, say a therapist, if I'm serious about getting better. I'm just afraid that they would use that against me or somehow involve the government after knowing what i am. I would think people in healthcare are generally more accepting, even in extremely conservative places, but i can't say for sure. Maybe if i look for one in a big city where it's generally more liberal? (not by much tbh) But i live in the middle of nowhere so id have to travel far for every session which I can't afford. I don't know, any insight would be appreciated.

 

[deathstrider]

I'd recommend looking into getting therapy online if you absolutely cannot get therapy where you live.

A meta analysis in 2023 concluded that getting therapy online for people in low to middling income countries is very beneficial, link to the study is here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38024798/

 

[thehorizons]

Whatever you do, please don't treat your condition with benzodiazepines. I'm still suffering from paradoxical reactions from them. It's not a risk worth taking, especially when life bleak enough already. If you're already them, please taper of them responsibly (slow taper instead of rapid) and don't cold turkey off of them.

 

[ConfusedClouds]

With the online option, you could even look at therapists from a different country where your identities and beliefs may be more accepted, however they may also be less familiar with your specific country's customs and the circumstances around your upbringing and cost a lot more too depending on country.

Just make sure you get someone who is properly registered in their country - in some places 'therapist'/'counsellor' etc are not legally 'protected' titles, so anyone can call themselves them, but if they are legitimately registered to a national council/board then their training has been to a certain standard and they are required to meet certain operational criteria and this is checked and verified.