# What have your experiences with therapists been like?



## coeur_brise (Oct 7, 2004)

??? Good, bad, ugly? And why did you think so? *as an added note, let's try not be negative and over generalize by saying therapy is bull**** and useless. It just wouldnt help, even if you did have negative experiences. Things have a way of influencing those on this board with negative words and responses. Ty!


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## nirvanarulez94 (Jan 24, 2013)

Did you just ask what we thought of it, then tell us not to say anything negative? lol. Anyway mine was mixed, I went about 5 or 6 times but I stopped going because it was always the same. The whole thing felt weird and casual even from my perspective. The last time I tried, it was just kinda the same thing every time I went. I would go fill out a questionnaire of sorts, he would comment on it, then we would talk and nothing really changed.

He did hit the mark on a couple personal things and what not that I thought were correct, though. I didn't really like how he insisted on certain things over and over like a mantra. And the thing is, I'm already an introspective person so therapy didn't do much for me. Now i'm really freaked out because I'll have to most likely deal with it in my own way.


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## coeur_brise (Oct 7, 2004)

@nirvanarulez94. Yea... I was trying to get objective views , but you're right. If it's negative, it's negative. Doesn't necessarily mean it's not helpful. I'd still say try to give it a go, even though I can say pretty much the same things with my therapists. Often I find they help long after the sessions end, but then I don't continue with them anymore.


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## lifeimpossible123 (Jan 29, 2014)

what the heck! my theRapists advice is that i should just go talk to people and not push them away. why would i go to a therapist in the first place if i could just push myself?


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## Kevin001 (Jan 2, 2015)

Not much help to be honest. They say the same stuff over and over again, mainly saying "you have to want to get better to actually get better".......words don't really work for me anyway.


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## Lithus the Forsaken Angel (May 5, 2015)

My therapist currently is pretty much telling me to do exposure therapy each time I visit.... I think to myself, if I could do that, do you think I'd be spending money coming here?

On that note, she has said some helpful things, like, how I sometimes over-think things. For example, I talked to this one girl who wanted to meet me during my short time at university, and after we met and walked around campus together for about 45 minutes, we never talked again, and my therapist suggested that maybe it wasn't because I did poorly socially, but perhaps she wanted me to ask her to hang out again, etc.

Really, each therapist is different, and it kinda depends on the luck of the draw.


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## Imbored21 (Jun 18, 2012)

pointless


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## Caedmon (Dec 14, 2003)

I've had many therapists over the years.

#1 - Good therapist, 12 sessions. Did the Mind Over Mood program and actual CBT, and this helped
#2 - Just okay. Saw him for a long time, maybe 20 sessions. Seemed to mostly just "chat" reflectively
#3 - Bad! 7 sessions. She just wanted me to do EMDR. Barf.
#4 - Not very good, about 6 sessions before quitting. She seemed unsure how to approach my treatment and I just stopped going. No one even called to get me back into treatment.
#5 - Just okay. She said she would do CBT but it became one of those "what's going on this week" type therapists. No thank you! Made it about 6 sessions.
#6 - One she sort of turned hostile and confrontational. I stopped going after that.

So that makes 1/6 therapists as actually 'good'. Not very promising odds. I'm putting my faith now more in self-treatment with CBT using professional literature and workbooks. And actually making progress this way!!


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## coeur_brise (Oct 7, 2004)

Lithus the Forsaken Angel said:


> Really, each therapist is different, and it kinda depends on the luck of the draw.


And there's the rub. I'm pretty sure I'm biased on this, but it's very frustrating for professionals to give you a list of other professionals who could be a hit or miss because therapy caters to individual needs. That said, I still think some therapy is better than no therapy even if only it gets you out of the house (and out of your head once in a while). In my experience, researching a therapist, finding the right one has been fruitless to say the least. I'm still having hopes and haven't given up. Basically I just like to play darts figuratively (ugh cynical comment of the year).

Maybe I give up too easily. But I also find the process of therapy to be very slow. To be fair, I tried to put myself into a therapist's shoes: Someone comes in, you know nothing about them, you have to ask what brings them there, and to put it bluntly, you don't know what they need. Communication must be factor in there somewhere. The thing I get so really frustrated with is the question: "How would it look like if you were happy?" and I'm like, "THATS WHAT IM HERE TO LEARN G##$dam %$%^$%it#!!!!"
"Imagine if you had a better life, what would you want?" "OBVIOUSLY HAPPY" "What are your interests?" "DEPRESSION SAPS ME OF ALL ENERGY TO BE INTERESTED." Sigh. I might just be crazy.

Sorry for the rant. I know they're trained professionals and only tryng to help. Edit: Maybe if I stuck around, they would've told me but at times I was too desperate even sit through a consultation.



Caedmon said:


> I've had many therapists over the years.
> 
> #1 - Good therapist, 12 sessions. Did the Mind Over Mood program and actual CBT, and this helped
> #2 - Just okay. Saw him for a long time, maybe 20 sessions. Seemed to mostly just "chat" reflectively
> ...


Glad you are helping yourself and finding the initiative to do so. That's really great to hear.


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## coeur_brise (Oct 7, 2004)

So much for a non-biased "review" of therapy


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## jaderen (May 29, 2015)

I had a therapist last year, she really tried to help but she didn't understand and her advice wasn't useful because she didn't get there were some things I COULDNT do, if that makes sense. I really want to recover and I think that therapy is a great method if you find the right therapist, I'm researching to try to find a good one


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## acidicwithpanic (May 14, 2014)

All of my experiences with therapists have been pleasant. My first one introduced me to the idea that I could be feeling depressed/anxious due to racism and microaggressions; and it made me think long and hard about all those years that I suffered from cultural identity issues and it all made sense to me. She made me discover so many things about myself. Was also very understanding and it was obvious she was well-educated on problems that I face as a minority. My second one was also the nurturing type who helped me think more rationally again. My current one seems to have a tougher exterior compared to my past therapists, but I have gradually warmed up to her over the past couple of months.


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## Battleshizzle (May 29, 2015)

I'm a CBT therapist and I am amazed at the lack of therapy people get. It's not uncommon. It's essential to find a qualified therapist. Most of them are bogus and claim to have experience when they do not, sadly. This gives CBT a bad name. There are professional bodies worldwide that monitor and regulate such things which is why it's so important to ask the right questions before starting therapy. I actively seek out so called 'experts' charging a fortune to vulnerable people. It's malpractice. Saying this, there are many qualified and competent therapists. Always ask what regulated body they belong to and their qualifications. What experience do they have of your problems? CBT for example is entirely based on evidence so they should be able to easily provide examples. If they don't then it's highly likely that they are not following any ethical guidelines or regulating body.


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## SplendidBob (May 28, 2014)

My experience to date:

1) Back in university, sat and stared at me silently for 10 minutes then asked what I was hiding from her. Triggered all kinds of insane OCD.
2) In university, just had me talking to her weekly about stuff. Didn't help anything.
3) First CBT therapist, couldn't devise a suitable treatment program for my pure O OCD, didn't help anything in fact his general attitude made me worse
4) Some random old woman, talk based therapist who was 'very good' according to my GP. Told me I needed to fix my diet (lols) and just ended up annoying me as much as she could during the session.
5) Saw 3 again, still didn't help.
6) Fairly basic CBT stuff, didn't help.
7) CBT therapist, decentish one. 12 sessions, didn't help much though I felt better after seeing her at least. Got on well with her
8) Same CBT therapist again as 7) didn't help much.

I am a 'difficult' patient though, I guess.


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## InTheWorldOfNiM (Oct 3, 2010)

I had 2 therapists, first one would fall asleep on me occasionally, we would talk about things like star wars and will smith. He would tell me that no one is thinking about you and its mostly just in your head and other bull**** like that and occasionally he would stare at me. HE wasn't any help and I eventually started to dread going to him. 


The next therapist I had was female and she was just down right annoying. she was uncomfortable to talk to, awkward silences and all that. we'd argue sometimes because a lot of her methods didn't resonate with me and she just didn't seem to understand why some of her methods wouldn't work for me. I'd occasionally say "but" to describe a particular obstacle that I think needed to be addressed before considering taking up a particular treatment method but she'd interrupt and say "no buts" and completely ignore what obstacle I wanted acknowledged. I mentioned wanting to be an independent adult, she suggested that I take the bus to her office on my own, claiming that it will help me feel more like an independent adult. I exclaimed that I've been taking the bus on my own to school for years but she just ignored that and went with what she felt was right. I didn't want to take the bus because when they changed the schedule, it meant I had to walk a really long distance to get to the bus stop. That was something I really didn't feel like doing. I only take the bus if I have to. when I don't have to then it just becomes a pain not because of any anxiety or add reasons but for convenience reasons. I swear this lady ticked me off so damn much constantly insisting that I take the bus to her office, telling my parents to stop taking me. 




Her motto was basically, "Just try" and keep trying. just do it. She often would say annoying **** like "just tell your brain" (I swear I hated that).and she would say it in this annoying soft voice like she's talking to a child. It was incredibly irritating. She seems better suited for child psychology.


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## Sabreena (Feb 17, 2012)

1. Old lady who asked "how was your day" and played hangman with me using the same word every time (CAT...you can imagine how frustrating this was for a 10 year old who reads ahead of her grade level and is convinced she's intellectual as sh*t.) The point was to "solve" my shyness. Something I didn't see as a problem back then. 

2. Court-appointed therapist after parents divorce at ~age 12. Kind of useless. Misdiagnosed me as selectively mute and wasn't on the same wavelength. Saw for 2 years to appease mother.

3. Family "therapists" aka grad students at university. Also age 12. They were horrible, condescending 20-somethings. Quite after 2, 3 sessions. 

4. Age 15. Post-suicide attempt. Melodramatic old lady who was actually understanding and interesting but culturally ignorant and kind of stereotypical (I'm a brown Muslim girl.) Did ~10 sessions. 

5. Age 15-16. Pediatric hospital CBT therapist. Rational and straightforward, but I didn't have much of a connection with her. Helpful in figuring things out, but not for validating a single *****ing emotion. Did 1 year. 

6. Age 18 (now). Post another suicide attempt. Really great therapist at hospital outpatient clinic. Extroverted, naturally suited to her job. She listens to me and is neither too rigid nor too emotional. A++ would recommend. (So far.)

So...that's 1/6 over a course of 8 years. Therapists are really a mixed bag. It's pure chance whether you'll get someone who fits with you or someone horrible.


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## LauraThePetLover5 (Sep 11, 2014)

My main therapist is generally alright, i do have some issues with therapy as i get too attached to people and "hide behind them" if that makes sense, one of them i saw 2 weeks and she was so strict i refused to go, another is very relaxed and easy going and is up for practical challenges and yeah


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