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what kind of therapist?

Discussion in 'Physical & Sexual Health' started by stumble along, May 11, 2013.

  1. stumble along

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    Hi guys, I've been wanting to go to a therapist. And have been seeing one on campus, but now irts summer and my dad says he will find one but I need to tell him what kind of therapist i should go with.

    I have ADD/ severe focusing issues, a long seated depresiion, social anxiety/anxiety

    I didn't even know there were "types" of therapists, so I dont even know where to look or what to think, so your guys help would be great.
     
  2. Mogget

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    Dd you ask the one on your campus what s/he recommended for you? There's a ton of different types of therapy, and most therapists practice a mixture of those types.
     
  3. Chip

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    For the things you're describing, a therapist that uses CBT as a primary modality would make sense to help getting the behaviors under control. There are probably some underlying issues that are deeper (almost everyone who is gay has some internalized self-hate) for which insight-focused or existential approaches will be better. Most therapists these days use CBT, so the trick is to find one who uses both CBT and the deeper insight-based therapies.

    Also, if you felt a strong connection to your therapist at school, it wouldn't hurt to shoot off an email and ask what theoretical orientations she uses.
     
  4. bingostring

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    Do you have a chance to meet your current campus counsellor again before summer? They can talk you through the options and where to go next. Even if term is over, he/she might be pleased to meet you outside of school to discuss, or talk on the phone.

    Alternatively, you may be able to find a local/national professional therapists association who can set you up for an assessment (a one-off interview) after which they can recommend a number of therapists, in your area, suited to your needs.

    Good luck!

    (*hug*)
     
  5. Foxface

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    CBT is always a good start but if you're looking to get in deeper to what is in your past and analyze your feelings, an analyst or possibly an existential therapist would be a good shot. If you somehow find a mix of CBT/Existential...then wow...moneyball

    Foxface
     
  6. saraph

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    I second Chip on CBT.
    I also have ADHD (DSM V eliminated ADD, it's all ADHD now btw) and anxiety issues. I saw a CBT Clinical Psychologist for a year in HS and WOW she was amazing! Helped me work through a lot of my problems and she was very blunt and down to earth. Granted she was $400/hr. but damn, she was good! I still use things she taught me to this day.
    One thing that helped me later in life was not taking any medications. It's a bitch in school but it's worth it overall because your brain learns to compensate. It took me a while to adjust but now I have amazing split attention capabilities where I can listen to and comprehend the subject matter of three conversations occurring withing close proximity to me. So as long as I'm present in lectures I can intake the material even if my thoughts are elsewhere because another part of my brain is recording what the professor is saying. My brain defies conventional theories. >.> lol
     
  7. stumble along

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    Thank you all for the advice.

    If I have some alone time I will call the school therapist and ask what he would recommend and what he practices.

    For future reference, what is CBT?

    And saraph you are very right, in my opinion the mess are a quick fix, which is nice in the short term but I don't want to be hooked on meds for the rest of my life. I really want to find a therapist that can help me actually fix my problems.

    Can you guys give me any links you might have to look up stuff? I need to find a way to tell my dad exactly what to look for, or I find someone within the health provider we have.
     
  8. RainbowMan

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    CBT stands for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and that's all I know (or want to know) about it. I don't select a therapist for what modalities they use - I select a therapist based on a shared connection, feeling that they can really see me for who I am, and help me become a better person.

    IMO, therapy is not about "fixing" a "problem" - it's about personal growth and exploration. If you go into it with the attitude that you're fixing something, that implies that you wish to return to your former state of being - I know that I have no desire to do that! Fixing something implies that it is somehow broken or dysfunctional. Perhaps it's not - perhaps it just is.

    This has been a hard lesson for my therapist to teach me, but he's finally got it through my thick skull most of the time :slight_smile:
     
  9. Chip

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    Good therapy is both addressing issues *and* about personal growth and insight. In fact, any permanent "fixing" that happens, for the most part, comes of insight into why the beliefs/behaviors started, and coping strategies/new behaviors/understandings that change how you deal with those situations. So it's important to have a therapist you connect with, but if they don't have the skill in the theoretical orientations that are best suited to your issues... you might spend years making a good connection with the therapist and not actually getting any real work done. I've unfortunately seen examples of this quite a bit.

    RainbowMan is correct to the extent that a therapist can't "fix" you, but at the same time, the short-term approaches (notably CBT) are mostly strategies to directly change behavior or alter perceptions. I would also argue that certain filters, mindsets, behaviors people have are, in fact, broken or dysfunctional, and so good therapy (generally a combination of approaches that are deeper and more insight-focused rather than the quick-fix of CBT) helps us to "unlearn" those behaviors/mindsets/filters.

    The reason CBT is so widely used in the US is our (broken) managed healthcare system. The insurance companies want the cheapest possible solution, and CBT claims to be able to solve any problem. And sometimes, it does temporarily "fix" things by simply changing the behavior, not by looking for why it's happening. But if you don't get to the root of the issue, then whatever caused it is still there, and will resurface later.

    But the insurance company gets off cheap because you're "fixed" and then they don't have to pay for more therapy, at least until the problem becomes unmanageable again.

    So CBT is helpful, as I said before, with things like depression, anxiety, and other acute issues, because those are things that lend themselves to specific strategies to help you feel better and manage the symptoms. But to really solve the problem in the longer term, you need the insight or existential-based therapies in most cases.

    As far ask how to tell your dad what to look for... your best bet is to take the advice in this thread, read some about the different theoretical orientations, and do the looking yourself. Therapy is extremely individualized, and you really need to be able to talk to the therapists, ask your own questions, and get a feel for each therapist's approach and find the one that both has the theoretical orientation you need. It may take some effort, but it's well worth it.