Artist707 Posted July 18, 2015 Posted July 18, 2015 I was wondering how difficult it was to find the therapist you have now? Are you satisfied with the level of service? Have you had bad therapist experiences? (interviews or for multiple sessions)? Where do you live? I'm asking these questions because it has been damn so hard for me to find a therapist in the area I live. I had multiples of terrible experiences with therapists, and also I had another today with my girlfriend. We were looking for couples' therapy and this guy tried to basically bully us with his bad philosophy. I felt so terrible and my stomach was doing parkour so we left a bit earlier than planned. I still feel bad about it, and it feels absolutely terrible to think that he professes to "heal" anyone. And currently, I have an individual therapist right now but it's been a difficult road to get to where I'm feeling okay with this one. I still have reservations about him but we'll see. So I was wondering what your experiences are in regards to this. We both live in a city that's full of disneyland liberals who believe in anything that psychopathic people-monsters feed them, so I'm really wondering if that's the case. Let us know! Thanks!
Kurtis Posted July 20, 2015 Posted July 20, 2015 I'm sorry to hear about this terrible experience you just had, the description of your stomach doing parkour is a clear sign. That must be so hard to go in with vulnerability and optimism for healing and to then have that happen. When I started looking for a therapist I was preparing myself to have to go through many to find a good one that would work for me. What I did: Listened to Stef's podcast: http://www.fdrpodcasts.com/#/1927/how-to-find-a-great-therapist Google searched therapists/counselors in my area and found that most of them had online profiles/websites. Shortlisted the 6 or so I thought looked good to me and emailed them a detailed description of my situation and what I was looking to do. Went through the responses and picked the one that seemed best (which happened to be the same one I had an instinctual feeling about simply based off her picture and short Web description.) My therapist is amazing. (For me anyways). I have such a great therapeutic relationship with her, have made so much progress with her, and will continue with her until I no longer feel the need for therapy. I used to think that I was just "lucky" that it happened on my first try. But now I think differently. Through the several steps mentioned above my body was giving me very clear messages that this was the one. When I hear Stef talk about how much we can judge about a person from just a couple seconds of limited info (like whether a doctor or teacher is good or not), it really resonates with me. I live just north of you on Vancouver Island (about half way up). Sorry for the long rambly response, but my point is that I think if you can listen more to your body, you might have better success. (Plus your body will want to help you in this specific task!) Good luck 2
Artist707 Posted July 21, 2015 Author Posted July 21, 2015 Hi Kurtis, Thanks for your response. I think that's a really wise strategy you took to come up with questions to send emails to. Why I haven't thought of that, I don't know. In the past I usually went with in person interviews to ask questions but with emailing there is like less of a risk. I will suggest this to my girlfriend! Thanks What do you feel that's most helpful with your therapist? I want to have something in my mind to always check if I have the best person serving my interests... in the beginning I forgot and got hurt pretty bad. 1
Kurtis Posted July 21, 2015 Posted July 21, 2015 Another option that many offered, instead of an in person first meeting, were 20 minute phone calls to discuss possible suitability and these were free also. There are two things that I find most helpful with my therapist. Primarily is her work with somatic therapy (focusing on the body and physical feelings) which has been amazing for me. My childhood left me thinking that my instincts were wrong, but I've found the opposite to be true. There are also techniques that use the body to heal the mind which I've found helpful. The second thing I really enjoy is how my therapist can explain the scientific details behind different things we work through (like how the brain, nervous system, etc work). I find this helpful and interesting. However, there are many different kinds of therapy and therapist styles. The most important things, that should be universal, are that the therapist should make you feel safe and that they are on your side (supportive). Hope that helps. I really have a limited experience here, so hopefully others will add their thoughts also. 1
Guest Kiki Posted July 22, 2015 Posted July 22, 2015 Omgoodness, thanks for this thread! I'm also new to the board and someone suggested therapy, but I forgot to ask how to find a good one... I went to Yelp and I'm going to make a few appointments til I find someone who I feel comfortable with. I saw a Dr that is a clinical psychologist but also does Hypnotherapy- does this sound reasonable?
Artist707 Posted July 29, 2015 Author Posted July 29, 2015 Another option that many offered, instead of an in person first meeting, were 20 minute phone calls to discuss possible suitability and these were free also. There are two things that I find most helpful with my therapist. Primarily is her work with somatic therapy (focusing on the body and physical feelings) which has been amazing for me. My childhood left me thinking that my instincts were wrong, but I've found the opposite to be true. There are also techniques that use the body to heal the mind which I've found helpful. The second thing I really enjoy is how my therapist can explain the scientific details behind different things we work through (like how the brain, nervous system, etc work). I find this helpful and interesting. However, there are many different kinds of therapy and therapist styles. The most important things, that should be universal, are that the therapist should make you feel safe and that they are on your side (supportive). Hope that helps. I really have a limited experience here, so hopefully others will add their thoughts also. Thanks a lot for sharing this
williamsjar Posted August 2, 2015 Posted August 2, 2015 Kurtis, I was just wondering what kind of degree or formal training your therapist has? Might help folks narrow down their search. Thanks!
Kurtis Posted August 4, 2015 Posted August 4, 2015 Kurtis, I was just wondering what kind of degree or formal training your therapist has? Might help folks narrow down their search. Thanks! No problem! My therapist has/is: Masters in Counselling Psychology Registered Clinical Counsellor Registered Rehabilitation Professional Somatic Experiencing Practitioner +1 for somatic therapy! W00t! http://sepractitioner.membergrove.com/ Also look for coherence therapists. For a description of 'somatic experiencing': http://www.traumahealing.org/about-se.php 1
Diki Posted September 19, 2015 Posted September 19, 2015 Has anyone ever done therapy over skype? If so, I'd love some feedback on how it compares to face to face and how to spot the genuine therapists from the chancers. I live in Japan - in a small town in the countryside in Japan. There is no chance I'm finding an English speaking therapist close to me and although I have been to a few sessions in Japanese, I really need to deal with this in English.
pongo Posted October 1, 2015 Posted October 1, 2015 I Skyped with a therapist for a few months after I moved, just to keep things going. I was better served face to face, and arranged this once I found a new one. In a pinch you can make it work on Skype with the right therapist, IMHO.
things make sense Posted October 15, 2015 Posted October 15, 2015 was wondering how difficult it was to find the therapist you have now? I'm still looking for one. I've seen 2 therapists so far Are you satisfied with the level of service? I was very unsatisfied with the service because I didn't feel connected with my therapists. After I said something, I rarely get a response that I want. This could be my problem because it makes it seem like I'm conditioning their response by carefully crafting what I say to them. Where do you live? Mid South Question for y'all How much of the convincing should the therapist be doing to their clients and the clients to their therapists? What % would you assign?
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