Discussion If you've been in therapy what was your experience like?

[zamza]

Hey y'all. I was just wondering about if anybody anybody who has been in therapy would like to share their experience. I'm interested in it currently but can't much afford it. Any of you have any insights into this?

 

[Kalista]

repetitive. they generally all say the same shit in the end. some will find ways to get rid of you if they don't know how (or want) to deal with your situation.
if you want to recover, might be easy enough to convince yourself that what they're saying is useful. otherwise, you'll see right through it and find how ineffective it can be.

lower your expectations when talking to one. the approach will somewhat be tailored to you (if they care enough) since the first day typically is an assessment of your situation, but the advice given will essentially be the same between them all.

talking about suicide is a red flag. they will stop you on your track and begin asking questions regarding the suicide ideation. if they deem it necessary, you will be forcibly taken to the mental hospital or some 'acute psychiatric care unit.' this is their protocol when hearing about suicide. it doesn't matter whether you're online or offline. they will send the ambulance/police/firefighters over your address to pick you up -- you have absolutely no choice in this.
you may get extremely lucky finding one that will not report you and fully explore it, but don't bet on it.

it typically only lasts around 40 minutes to an hour. you talk about what's bothering you, they ask questions and eventually give you 'homework' to work on until the next appointment. the goal being finding what the root cause might be and exploring it.
getting an appointment everyday or every other day is not possible. it usually ends up being a weekly, bi-weekly, and even once a month meeting depending on their availability. which can fuck with the support you're looking for. that's why they give a list of activities (hobbies) to cope with until the next appointment -- a series of distractions that you're suggested to practice because that's all life really is if you're in this state.

if your situation requires a more intense and focused care, they will recommend joining an 'out-patient program.' which will provide frequent meetings at a set schedule multiple times a week along with other patients.

therapy can be done online or offline. choose whichever is more comfortable.

therapy is a gamble in that you will get shitty therapists. if the therapist is making you feel uncomfortable, switch therapists. so you'll probably go through a number of them if they're not compatible. the search alone for another therapist can be exhausting.

depending on where you live, there might be a way to get affordable or free therapy. again, lower your expectations when going this route as it can sometimes determine the quality of available therapists.

or go the free route and join the recovery section and find the same repetitive advice you'll get from a therapist.

 

[LunarLight]

Useless. I don't need to talk. I need my brain to function.

 

[etherealspring]

i tried it for about a year and talking did bring me short term relief, though id often find myself unsatisfied. sometimes the sessions felt too short and i couldnt say everything i wanted to say. it also took me so long to get adjusted because i dont do well with strangers, so it took me like 10 sessions to even say anything that was actually personal. even then i couldnt say everything, i didnt tell my therapist everything bc i was so worried about what i was saying not being fully confidential (i was like 16-18 at the time). id tell her id thought of ctb but didnt intend on doing it, which wasnt the full truth.

therapy was a lot and id always feel really drained afterward. talking for 50min sessions is hard, even if i only ended up talking for less than half of it. i dont want to try therapy again, not because it was bad. my therapist, she was one of the few people who really, really understood me. it's more because it wasnt helpful in the long run. i still think and feel all the same things i do before i started having sessions with her. it just wasn't productive. it did kind of feel like she was just repeating what i said in different words. im glad i tried, but it didnt help and i dont feel even the slightest bit better. if anything, im far worse than i was before

 

[pulleditnearlyoff]

Utterly useless as described above.

 

[alivefornow]

For me it was a waste of time and money. But it may work for you. Give it at least one honest shot

 

[max_vader2]

I've been to three psychologist.

The first one was the classic "tell me how you feel". Useless, I feel like shit, and saying it only made it more real

The second was a public healthcare psychologist. I though that being from the public sector it was going to be shit, but I really connected with her, and helped me a lot.

My third (and current) it's... Idk... It's a Cognitive Conductual therapy, which basically tried to realign the euristic processes of your mind to avoid bad thoughts. So far, it isn't working (I've been in 3 sessions)

 

[catbunny]

Probably useless. Also, the therapist called my name wrong 5 times during the session. Not like pronouncing it wrong, they called me by whole different name. That's pretty uncomfortable.

 

[archiveofpain]

My main problem with therapy is that I get it, I get the concept, but my brain can't grasp how to actually use any of the advice in my life. I've tried to apply what the therapists says plenty of times but my brain just reverts to unhealthy coping mechanisms and emotional irregularity. All they do for an hour was ask "so what are you going to do to feel better" as if I would somehow magically come up with activities, motivation, energy, and go start doing active social things I've never done before in spite of my overwhelming anhedonia and depression and just start feeling better which in turn makes me feel worse about myself because there's this pressure around recovery from both therapy and my family

Is like therapy sends me this message that there is no help for me that will actually fix me or make me feel better, only ways to make myself less intolerable for others and more externally functional to appease others

 

[Trying To Live]

Sometimes is helps a little, usually not

 

[avalonisburning]

It was like speaking in wingdings to a blind person.

 

[CantDoIt]

I have been in therapy about 5 or 6 times. It has helped the latest time but only while I'm in the process of doing it.

After I feel bad again.
So basically, temporary relief and then back to suffering. My latest therapist has been the best one.

 

[depthss]

I've had a bunch of therapists/ psychologists throughout my life, ever since I was a really little kid. If you would've asked me a few months ago, I'd of said every single one that I've ever had sucks. It's kind of robotic, they just say what they're meant to, it's not helpful. However, I recently started talking to a different psychologist.
out of the countless people I've seen since I was 7 or 8, he's genuinely the only one that's actually good at his job lol.
So it's hard to find a good therapist, at best, you don't click. At worst, they just suck. But if you can find an actual GOOD psychologist that you have things in common with and can actually talk to, it genuinely can be pretty helpful.
It feels almost impossible to find someone that works, but once you do, it really does work

 

[fatladysings]

I've had CBT twice and also did a twelve week help-yourself course in dialectical behavioural therapy and none of it did me the slightest bit of good. CBT is like someone saying to you "Just get a grip, will you?" Im baffled as to the popularity of CBT, I really am.

 

[offbalance]

I feel like I click with my therapist somewhat and he wants to help, but I feel like my qualms with life just can't be remedied by simply talking to someone. My qualms have to do with reality itself. But it may help you, I do feel a bit of relief sometimes getting things off my chest to him, even if he doesn't understand all of it. Like others have said, the right therapist is essential and that relationship can be good to have.

 

[-nobodyknows-]

Not great. Sure it was nice to have someone to talk to, but it never helped much. Making sure to censor myself to avoid hospitalization was also hard.

 

[Little_Suzy]

If you are a talker, trauma dumper, or trauma bonder, see a therapist right away, because your friends, family, and SOs are not professionals.

Therapists guarantee confidentiality (you don't want your intimate business on the streets) and understand how to respond appropriately so as not to re-trigger you. Further, they are very knowledgeable about resources that can help you live a healthier lifestyle. Therapy is good for you and an important part of your recovery. They will also assist you with medication if necessary.

 

[ForgottenAgain]

It's such a mixed feeling...

I have been in therapy for 16 years, all with the same psychologist. He helped me a lot, I think I was able to achieve the things I achieved in life because of his support. I learned how my mind works and what can trigger bad moments. He helped me to be a more regulated person. When I started therapy with him I was 14 years old, he was more of a father figure than my actual father. I really connected with him, he understood my thought process and he never gave up on me even when I would call him in the middle of the night crying and saying I wanted to ctb in that moment. I remember a specific late night phone call when I told him I thought this was it, I needed to die, and he calmly told me that there was a very high chance I could be badly injured from my attempt and be worse off. That if I attempted he'd have to call emergency services and he didn't want me to have that traumatic memory and be put in a psych hospital. I ended up SH instead and on the next appointment he praised me for what I did, that it was better to SH than to be severely injured and still alive. He made a horrible situation a bit lighter.

So he did help a lot with some of my issues. At some point I felt like my brain was broken and that maybe I should try a different therapist so now I'm with a different psychologist. Oddly enough, it was from switching psychologist that I noticed how much I was personally attached to my previous psychologist. I shared so much of my life with that man, he was with me through so many things in my life. I saw him grow older, get divorced, get a girlfriend. It's like I had this best friend for so many years and that I can't talk to him. I always knew it was a professional relationship, never expected to feel so personally connected, but it did happen and I miss him.

Now with this new psychologist, he is nice, I think we have a similar thought process. He is in favour of the right to die and I've been able to speak freely about ctb. He is keen on getting to the root of my problems by looking into my past trauma and hit some breakthroughs like: finding out that I don't remember good memories. When I searched for him I specifically searched for a therapist with experience with EMDR so I think knowing what I was looking for helped.

Having said all this, and even though my experiences with therapy have been positive, I'm still not cured and it's been several years. I don't know what to think about that, my heart doesn't let me put blame on my first psychologist as I think he was such a beam of light in my life. I feel like my brain is broken and I'm putting my last efforts into trying to fix it. I'm hoping therapy and other things can do it but I don't know.

 

[brokeandbroken]

Hey y'all. I was just wondering about if anybody anybody who has been in therapy would like to share their experience. I'm interested in it currently but can't much afford it. Any of you have any insights into this?

I've been to 2 sort of 3 therapists if you include better help. Didn't do anything for me. Didn't care about my issues. Didn't do anything constructive. Just seemed like they were killing time until they could cash a check. Maybe it helps some people but I don't think there's ever going to a situation where a therapist will be helpful for me.

 

[LostExit]

The tragedy is it's hard as hell to get help if you don't get admitted first. Insurance of any kind some don't except. Getting them to answer, schedule an assessment and offer care is near impossible. Not to mention here in the Midwest it has a backlog of months. When you do get help they literally throw a dart for what they think you should be put on for meds. I've had some crazy side affects. When you are in therapy some talking or some group sessions help. People with like minded issues understand more. However anyone with a degree in that field thinks they can cure you and it gets a bit redundant. Counseling does help many. For me, I can't talk about my issues. I don't have much to say on it. Don't really have a definitive reason why my brain is the way it is. I have not been in a hospital for my condition since I was young. Meds however all my dang life. Without them I tip over the edge. Tho sometimes meds can catapult you into oblivion. Hope you find some comfort.

 

[ijustwishtodie]

I'm in therapy right now because my mum forced me to for social anxiety and, for me, it's just a waste of time and nothing more. Therapy isn't a one size fit all thing and it simply doesn't work for most people. At the end of the day, I don't even want to adapt myself to others. I want others to adapt to me. I don't want to talk to anybody or be in any irl social situations. With that said, I did like how my therapist called me introspective... this is perhaps the best compliment that I could get