Hey all. I'm not sure if this is the proper place to post this (mods feel free to move this thread if it should be in another area). But I know a few people here have experience with therapists, so I figured it was a good starting point. Basically, I've been thinking it might be beneficial to try talking some of my issues out with a therapist - ideally, one that specializes in coming out and/or LGBTQ issues. The somewhat embarrassing part about this is that I realized I have no idea how to go about finding one. None of my close friends or immediate family have ever used one (as far as I know anyway). I've been poking around a bit online but I'm sort of cautious about just randomly calling offices based on online ads. I'm not experienced enough in this area to tell what's legitimate and what's questionable. Anyone have any advice or tips that can point me in the right direction? It'd be greatly appreciated! :icon_bigg
Sure thing...well I cannot ask for your location but I will say this. Amazingly enough google and the phone book can really help here. You can always call your local hospital and ask for the social worker and they usually have books full of names. I would recommend you work with one that specializes in LGBT issues and depending where you live that can be easy or hard to find. I would recommend calling some therapists and just asking questions. You can learn a lot about a therapist by talking to them. Most are willing to give you an introduction to how they work. In fact they are MANDATED to foreclose a lot before they see you. I offer you my service in this manner. I am a trained therapist, and if you call them and have questions about what they said feel free to pm me or if you want to know what therapy can be like you can pm me as well. good luck Foxface
I found mine (my first one, that I do individual work with) by looking at Psychology Today's wonderful Find a Therapist feature. It turns out that we fit. He then referred me to the one that I do group with. Just narrow down your search to "Gay Issues", and whatever insurance if any you have, and let it do the rest . It will generally link to their private websites which have a lot more information on them.
Wow, that looks like just the sort of resource I was looking for. Thanks! Thank you for the offer to answer questions about this, Foxface. I may take you up on that if/when further questions develop. And thanks for that other info too. The mandated foreclosure thing hadn't occurred to me. I think I might do some research into that area while I'm looking into finding a therapist. Never hurts to be prepared, right?
One thing I'd suggest is important: If you're mainly seeing a therapist to talk about issues surrounding coming out, you'll probably have better luck seeking one whose style and focus is either insight-based, existential, or humanistic/Rogerian. Unfortunately, in the era of managed care, the most common therapy type is CBT (Cognitive-Behavioral), which managed care loves because it claims to be able to solve most problems in just a few sessions. CBT is great if you have anxiety or depression or other specific issues, for which there are excellent CBT-based interventions and techniques that can help. It's far less useful for understanding the issues that LGBT people have with coming out. So if you can find a therapist that uses one of the other styles as their primary style, you'll likely find your work more effective and useful. Any therapist you contact should be willing to spend a few minutes with you on the phone. Use that time to ask about technique and approach, their experiences with LGBT clients, and just get a feel for how you interact. If it feels like someone that you could feel safe opening up to... or that you connect with... that's what you want. A good therapist won't be afraid to gently challenge you... good therapy is work! At the same time, there should be a sense of empathy and connection. Some therapists you know immediately that it isn't going to work, and any good therapist will understand that, as no one therapist is the best for everyone in their style and technique. Finally, whomever you pick, try them out for a session or two, feel free to ask q's here, and evaluate, critically, whether you feel like you're making a connection, getting good insight and feedback, and if you feel that s/he is really understanding and "getting" what you're saying. Sometimes you just luck into an amazing therapist first time out (I did that twice, actually.) And sometimes it takes a couple tries. But it's well worth it.
Hi, I simply started dialling... It was after hours and expected to only leave a call back message. To my surprise the therapist answered. We chatted for about 15 minutes and as part of that I outed must self imeadiately so I could gauge her reaction and approach. I selected her in the end.
