Therapy--YAY!

[Velrose]

Ok. So this Tuesday I go to my therapist for the very first time. I have been waiting for this appointment for a week, a week and a half now, and it's as though the day couldn't get here fast enough. I've gotten more anxious, more nervous over the last few days--though I think it is simply anticipation for the appointment.

I know everyone is different and everyone's therapists are different, but could anyone give me some vague ideas on what to expect? Some insight would really be awesome.
^______^

[Robbed]

Hopefully, your therapist will be good. I have had such bad experiences with therapists, from them being drug pushers (even though they couldn't prescib themselves), to being disrespectful (looking at me like I'm some kind of lowlife weirdo who doesn't have any right to not be medicated), and just plain incompetent.

[Velrose]

Well that is one of my fears. The association I go to seem to be fairly good, so here is crossing my fingers! My psychiatrist already slapped me on Lexapro and Ativan. The ativan has been a life saver, I can't deny that, but three days after starting my Lexapro, they pulled me off of it because it was causing me some insanely weird side effects and freaky thoughts.

I can deal with someone trying to force me to take meds--it's the looking down on me I really worry about. I don't exactly know how to handle such a situation. T_T

[Robbed]

I can deal with someone trying to force me to take meds--it's the looking down on me I really worry about. I don't exactly know how to handle such a situation. T_T

There really is only ONE way to deal with a therapist who looks down on you - stop seeing them. Hit them where it hurts the worst - the pocketbook. And let's see how well their 'superior intellect' can deal with that. Well, I guess I kind of made my opinion of therapists/psychologists known. I think what's so bad about this is that therapy has the potential to be VERY helpful. Unfortunately, MOST therapists are no good.

[Velrose]

Well you speak the truth. I wouldn't have been concerned about it had I not heard such stories before. It is so sad to think so many health care providers are only in things for the money, even family doctors and such. It makes it hard to trust those who should be taking care of us. Not everything is solved with a pill, and my hopes for my therapy are that I can figure out why I am freaking out, and most importantly, some ways to cope with this. We will see though! Here's to hoping my experience will be more beneficial than harmful!

*crosses fingers*

[Mark]

To the Administrators,
Would it be possible to set up an area on this site where people who have gone to see a therapist can make comments on who they went to see, where he/she is located, and if they would recommend going to see this person?
A therapist can be a very valuable resource to people with anxiety, but a bad therapist can make a person distrustful of therapy, thus making there experiences potentially worse.
Just a thought

[Robbed]

To the Administrators,
Would it be possible to set up an area on this site where people who have gone to see a therapist can make comments on who they went to see, where he/she is located, and if they would recommend going to see this person?
A therapist can be a very valuable resource to people with anxiety, but a bad therapist can make a person distrustful of therapy, thus making there experiences potentially worse.
Just a thought

I'm not sure how things are in Canada. But here in the US, therapy is particularly dicey. In this country, mental health care professionals by and large believe that anxiety is a genetic illness like cancer or diabetes, and there is pretty much no hope for recovery. It is highly believed here that anxiety and depression can only be treated with medication. The funny thing about this is that therapists have jumped on the bandwagon as well, and are actually fighting HARD in MANY states for the right to presribe medications. All we need is for therapists to become bigger dope dealers than they already are! What is REALLY ludicrous about all of this is that by doig this, therapists are in many ways shooting themselves in the foot. After all, if medication is the ONLY way to feel better, then why not just get your prescription refilled every few months by your GP? MUCH cheaper. Why even bother with therapy if it can't help. By buying into this model of what anxiety is all about, therapists are actually talking themselves out of a job.

Oh, and I should also mention that this view of anxiety probably also plays a major role in their disrespectful treatment of patients. To them, we are all just a bunch of people with diseased brains who are incapable of thinking or doing anything for ourselves. If we say something that goes counter to what they say, it is only because we are sick, and don't know 'what's good for us'. We therefore all deserve to be treated like defiant three year olds.

[Mark]

I haven't checked personally but it wouldn't surprise me if the Mental Health Care Professionals up here treated patients the same way. Having people pop enough pills so they get to the point where they feel no pain period is the easiest treatment on the planet and involves very little work on the professionals part.
It's pretty sad when someone that spent many years in school learning to save lives gets compared to the guy standing on a street corner peddling dope. Unfortunately, in some cases, the guy peddling the dope probably cares more about you then the professional does.

[Velrose]

Well I went yesterday and I have to admit, I don't know how I feel about the experience. When we discussed my fear and obsessive thought of spontaneous combustion, she said,"Well...I won't say it won't happen...."

WTF? LIE TO ME!! GIVE ME SOME REASSURANCE!!! XD


Otherwise--we touched on a lot of topics that I didn't expect to, but she mainly focused on my obsessive thoughts. I go back again in two weeks, and we've made it my "goal" to be rid of the thoughts, or at least able to control them.

I want to have hope, but I also think I might have expected too much out one single visit--like a miracle cure or something, I don't know.

I'm sticking with it thought and we'll see from here....

[Robbed]

Well, even the best therapist on the planet is not going to cure you in one visit. Regardless of the circumstances, recovery just cant happen that quickly - it is slow by nature. All I can say is give this time. It will take time for you to determine whether your therapist is good OR bad. Two to three months is probably ample time to make this determination.

As for her response to the issue of spontaneous human combustion, this isn't as bad the response that I might have gotten had I thrown this at SOME therapists. Some of the therapists I have seen would probably have said that I have a serious psychiatric disorder like psychosis or schizophrenia, and need to get on antipsychotics ASAP.

[Velrose]

I understand about giving it time, but there was a part of me that had hoped.

:D

As for the psychosis thing and whatnot--yeah, to be perfectly honest, I was scared to death admitting such a freaky out there fear. I mean, I have never in my life met anyone who had dealt with such a thing, and for me it came out of the blue only a few weeks ago, but haven't been able to shake the fear or thoughts. BUT--I decided from the very beginning I wasn't going to lie to them about anything or my symptoms. I want to go to get better, not to try and make myself seem normal--this all... it's just so tiring. The anxiety, the growing fears...it's come on so fast, out of nowhere it seems (though I know when it started) I just want to feel better.

My husband and I went to Chattanooga and Rock City today for some shopping and to view the Christmas displays. I had some minor issues in the middle of the mall, mainly just feelings of dread and doom--and it irritated me to the point I was getting upset and angry because it HAD to happen on a day we were supposed to have fun.

This is just so tiring/irritating/sad, and I really, really hope between therapy and other things that I can feel better.

Wow...I really went into a bit of a rant there-- by the way, Robbed, thanks for all the input on therapy and therapists. No it isn't sarcasm. It helps to know what other people have gone through so that I don't go into things thinking that all is well, when in fact, the therapist later on might prove to be a bad one. I would hate to think it was all in my head. :D