I've been looking online for a therapist for myself, and I found (in my area) that the average cost is about $160 a session. What's the cost of a therapist in your area (out of curiosity)? How many times do you have to see them? Do you prefer a male or female therapist? Why?
I think when I went it was like $300 but insurance covered most of it. I was going weekly or every other week, I had a female one and several male ones but didn't really like any of them thou the female was nicer.
That's...really expensive. Guess seeing a therapist can be crossed off my list of things to do at some point.
Especially if you don't have insurance, you can always try looking into university/low cost therapists. Social workers are often both highly trained and affordable, but sometimes they are located in areas that are a little uncomfortable to get to. University therapists can be very hit-or-miss. Most of them are licensed graduate students doing their practicum, working under an experienced supervisor. You can get the creme of the crop at a low cost before they go out and make a name for themselves, or you could get the one that's doomed to be a second-rate school counselor. Whether university or low-cost therapy, most will work with you on a sliding scale according to your income. In general, if you don't have health insurance or a lot of money, it's usually better than not seeing a therapist if you feel you need someone to talk to.
Probably varies but the one I've seen is $170 per 50-55 min session. Not sure how many sessions are required, that varies per individual and the issues/situations (I think I'm a medium term project lol). At first it was every week, then as things get sorted out a bit, sessions can space out to every 2 or 3 weeks. For example I find once some things are figured out, and we talk through how to cope/reframe/approach certain "problem" situations it's good to spend some time getting used to those new skills before starting to unravel more stuff hence spacing out sessions. Your mileage may vary obviously. As far as therapist gender etc..., that probably varies as well. Mine happens to be male and gay, in some ways I sometimes think I don't have to explain as much, or won't feel "judged" (even though any good therapist should be non-judgmental and knowledgeable about "the gays" lol). At the same time tho, I sometimes do feel "not gay enough" and I wonder if I would feel the same way with a str8 or female therapist.
I just recently learned about openpathcollective.org. It is a network of therapists who have committed to offering therapy for $30-50 a session. I don't know how wide a selection they have but they seem to have a few therapists in the locations I checked. Also, most therapists will negotiate rates. Many therapists who have an "asking price" of $135-150 (which is what I commonly see here in California) will accept half of that for clients that are serious and willing to make a regular commitment, and honestly can't afford the regular price. The gender of the therapist is pretty irrelevant. Some people feel more comfortable with a male therapist and some with a female. There are way more female than male therapists. There are also differences in how you relate to the therapist depending on whether the tharapist is male or female, and both have benefit to the therapeutic process so either can be beneficial. Most important is therpeutic orientation. A good therapist uses a combination of styles, and for lgbt issues, existential and insight-based approaches in combination with CBT is often a really good option. If you can't fid a good therapist in your area, there are quite a few who will do Skype sessions, and that can also be helpful.
Skype therapists? 0.0 That sounds really awesome, but also kinda impersonal. YAY MIXED FEELINGS! Back on point... I kinda figured something like a therapist was expensive, so I'm not too shocked. Good thing most people who need a therapist live messy deadend lifestyles with limited financial opportuinites making it near impossible to even afford the help they need, am I right?
Some therapist will see you on a sliding scale also depending on your circumstances. Sometimes if you have insurance they will just take what the insurance pays and skip the copay. Churches may also offer help as well...good luck! Therapy has been a life saver for me.
Ask for a sliding scale. They will ask for documentation of your income and base the rates around that. Not everyone does it - but its worth asking for.
I would like to see a therapist. I don't think I could afford it though and my parents probably wouldn't let me. :< I think if I had one though, I would probably be more comfortable if they were a woman. I juat can confide in them easier.
If one is to engage in "E-Therapists" or via Skype I would recommend this to those who aren't really serious cases. Like if you just want to rant to someone and get their perspective on it. Otherwise for serious cases such as the big three--- Depression, Bipolar, Schizophrenia or other certain mental disorders. I would like to discourage this as much as possible. When a Psychiatrist "sees" a patient he/she not only listens to the narration of the patient but also observes subtle and subconscious cues such as positioning of the hands, arms, legs, fidgeting, rolling of the thumbs, etc. This are all important in reinforcing the impression the Psychiatrist is getting from his/her patient. Obviously that vital aspect cannot be done via Web. Also I would like to emphasize that there is a difference between Psychologists and Psychiatrists. For serious cases please see a competent and licensed Psychiatrist as being a Medical Doctor, he or she would be able to accord you the broad spectrum of treatment which otherwise would have limits with a Psychologist..
I respectfully disagree. First, the purpose of therapy certainly isn't "just to rant to someone and get their perspective"; for that matter, nobody should be seeing a therapist for that kind of role as that isn't what therapists are best used for. Second, distance-based therapy isn't new; it has been developing for close to 20 years. There are several professional associations that have worked to develop protocols and training procedures for ethical and appropriate provision of remote therapy (phone, Skype, email, IM.) Properly done, the connection is just as deep and personal as the connection you would have with a therapist in an office setting. The studies that I've seen have generally shown that there's no difference in outcomes for therapy delivered via distance vs. in-office sessions, and this includes depression, anxiety-related disorders (which includes OCD-spectrum disorders), LGBT issues, adjustment disorders, and the like. So given a choice between some random person discouraging you based on misinformation, and the experience of the professionals who have developed this field, I'll go with the professionals. I do agree that schizophrenia, paranoia, and certain other conditions are best addressed in in-person sessions, but nobody should be self-diagnosing, and any competent therapist will refer a client to a local therapist if s/he feels that in-person treatment would better suit him or her, regardless of the diagnosis. Also, the profession is not limited to psychologists and psychiatrists; there are also licensed professional counselors and clinical social workers who have similar training to psychologists (and, in the case of the clinical social workers, broader training in family dynamics that can be particularly helpful for LGBT issues.) Psychiatrists are medical doctors and very, very few of them do therapy. Additionally, unless they've taken separate trainings outside of their psychiatric residencies, psychiatrists do not have anywhere near the training in therapy and interpersonal dynamics that therapists do; psychiatrists generally treat organic brain disorders, and their treatment of choice is nearly always medication. In most cases, the way the process works, people first see a therapist, and if there are issues that aren't adequately handled with therapy, the therapist will make a referral to a psychiatrist for evaluation for medication to assist. In most cases, the client will continue to see the therapist in addition to occasional visits to the psychiatrist to adjust medication. And there are psychiatric nurse practitioners who are closer to psychiatrists, along with several other allied mental health professional categories. It's important to understand the distinction and nuance between the skill sets and services available, and there are a lot of misconceptions about the differing levels of training and roles of the different professionals. What's more important than anything is the skill of the therapist, the therapeutic interventions s/he uses, and the rapport between client and therapist. Good therapy is hard work, can be painful, but yields amazing results. To try to reduce it to "don't use online therapy if you have ______________" or "see a psychiatrist if you have ___________" is simply a mischaracterization and incomplete explanation of what the options and best practices are.
I do not advocate self diagnosing and have made it pretty clear in posts I have made in EC that there is no substitute to a proper diagnosis by a competent and licensed Physician. In saying that yes you are right that there are patients that self diagnose even before they step into the Physician's office. In the practice we call them "Wikipedia Doctors". I agree on the part where OCD spectrum disorders, anxiety disorders as such may avail of E-Therapy. However I would disagree with Depression. Depression is one of those mental disorders that are validated by subconscious cues which are observed visually. I would also disagree that Psychiatrists do very little therapy. I have dealt with a lot of Psychiatrists as well as being a Mental Health Nurse before I studied medicine and they all offered therapy. Also in Psychiatric treatment medicine is not the first line treatment. Therapy is even in cases of Depression, Bipolar Disorder and Schizophrenia Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is offered as a first line treatment but as these are organic in nature and must go hand in hand with medication. But I do agree that therapists would make referrals in severe cases which aren't handled by conventional therapy. I do acknowledge that I was very brief in my previous post and failed to mention other professions. But my main thought was to differentiate Psychologists from Psychiatrists which a lot of people tend to confuse and interchange.
Well then... that was a lot of reading *gives sore brain a rub* Eh it's all good I don't plan on seeing any kinda psychologist/chiatrist/ect...anytime soon anyways. I'll go with the 'internalize' approach. Been doing that for nearly 10 years now and I haven't killed myself yet x3
