r/askatherapist

My therapist's mamager called me last week. He gave his full name, but I didn't catch the surname. I hung up on him when he started lying and gaslighting me.

Later that same day, I had a phone session with my therapist, and told her about the distress her manager's conduct caused. I told her I didn't catch his name, so asked her what it was.

She lied. She told me (after too-long a pause) she didn't know his last name. Though this alpne is extremely hard to believe, what she cannot escape is the fact she was sitting in front of a computer with a corporate email system. She could have discovered the name within seconds, without even leaving her chair.

If she had said "I can't tell you", this would have been acceptable. But to simply lie was both unnecessary and harmful.

I am trying to decide how to handle this at our next session, which will be in-person.

I’m 17 and I want to get atleast one therapy session about something going on in my life but I don’t want my parents to know. It’s not about anything that will harm others or me so I feel like maybe it wouldn’t be an issue? But I’m not sure if I have to have parental consent to be there or my parents have to be aware of it

Hey, I posted a few days ago about how my therapist doesn't have any connections or know how to help me get assessed, and she doesnt know how to help me anymore after all my issues have come to light. After all those comments, I'm realizing that my gut instinct was true, I am out of her scope now, and I need to find someone who probably does DBT and works with mood and personality disorders.

How do I find a specialist? I use the filter on Psychology Today to narrow it down, but if I even just put in Bipolar + DBT + my insurance, then it says 0 results. OR, even if I do find some that do only DBT atleast, then still everyone's profile looks the EXACT same, like "I create a warm, safe space to help you navigate stress, anxiety, and life transitions." They all say that! I dont want to talk about work stress, I have some issues that need true structure and deep work....Also, I dont trust profiles where they have expertise in EVERYTHING and 7 different modalities if they graduated 3 years ago.....so thats another half of PT.

I had a consultation with a therapist yesterday who literally said "working with me is pretty relaxed, I wont make you cry every session, I'm here to help and we'll have a good time". But thats not what I need at all, I dont want to relax and have a good time. If I never cry then I guarantee we are not hitting the roots of my issues. I want someone who can see through my high functioning mask and really dig into it.....How do I find someone like that?? If not PT, then where??

Or does anyone know of someone like that in Louisiana? Hook a girl up

Asking because I’m pretty sure I’m just going to ask this to my psychologist this week.
I’m 25, from Australia and see my psych fortnightly. I’ve used up my 10 subsidised sessions as well, so now I’m paying like $260 every 2 weeks and sometimes this still doesn’t feel like enough.
I’ve been seeing her for a year and she is so so supportive and patient with me, but I’ve been in this depressive episode for over 2 months now and I don’t seem to be receptive to anything that anyone in my life does to try and help.
I feel like I’m wasting her time.
In my head, I’m doing everything I can to stay alive and function, but I feel like it doesn’t seem like I’m trying.
I just don’t know what to do.

I have a bit of numbness from some trauma that happened about 13yrs ago and since then the one time I can point at and say "I really felt that emotion like I think i used to" is after about the 24hr mark of insomnia. The longer the insomnia goes the more im.able to feel these emotions in a way im pretty sure is "normal" for me. My question is does anyonen else have any positive experiences/info about sleep deprivation or know why this happens?

I work as a nurse myself and currently engaging with a therapist, namely to help process previous trauma. I recently disclosed something pretty significant that has led to a relapse in my self harm. I’m currently safe and all that so not needing crisis support. I want to discuss it with my therapist but am worried it will result in a report and questioning my fitness to work.
Work is a massive protector for my mental health, and it is something I take a lot of pride in, and prioritise making sure that I am safe and that my patients are safe.

I'm not a therapist but since sharing my therapy journey on reddit and openly speaking about how I am working on my anger in therapy.

My therapist does work with anger so seems counterproductive to leave her and go do DBT instead.

Is DBT usually for people who argue a lot, angry or don't think in the moment? My anger isn't ever directed at anyone physically, I just have very low tolerance and patience for a lot of things .

A lot of people have suggested DBT, I have researched into but it seems like a sister to anger management which I've done before and made me more angry.

I have seen it's very skilled based and a lot of worksheets on how to regulate yourself, calm yourself down or if in a rage or anger to count to 10 or something very generic.

Is DBT for people who struggle to emotionally regulate themselves? I usually come down from it all within 48hrs pushing 72hrs but that's if I've let my anger build up.

Would it be considered a conflict of interest for a therapist to put their SO in a mental hospital?

Can a therapist get in trouble for doing that? Especially in bad faith (ie toxic therapist getting back at partner)

Cause I know a therapist can do that for a client they believe is a danger to themselves/others, but does that apply to their legally married wife/husband?

I'm curious about licensing.

On the website it says lpc-supervisor. I guess i am asking if anyone can out that they do or advertise a certain type of Counseling but yet not be specifically trained for it? Trauma, Marriage, whatever it may be. Or as I was once told... I am well versed in (whatever theory).

If training covers a bit of everything (i know y'all have to touch on a lot if subjects) but nothing specific does it matter?

Wouldn't one been proud to put their credential or certificate up saying I've had training in such and such? (If you had it)

The "about" section says - Theological Seminary where (therapust) earned an M.A. in Marriage & Family Counseling, a Master of Theology, and a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology.

provided clinical and relational help to individuals of all ages, helping couples and families navigate their unique challenges.

Services- variety of mental health services, including:

​ Individual Therapy

Couple’s and Marriage Counseling

Child and Parent Therapy

Grief and Loss Counseling

Trauma Counseling and EMDR

Addiction Counseling

Career Counseling and Coaching

How frequently do most people meet for therapy? Is it normal to meet every 3 months? When I started therapy I was meeting every other month, most people (my friends who also go to therapy) say they started by meeting every week. I had no idea that happened, I never got that. Now I meet with her every three months (more now because she has cancelled twice) and has been trying to push me to finish therapy when my anxiety actually got worse again. Is this a thing for certain people but not majority? Is it because I'm on the older side of teenage years and she usually works with young kids? It's been about a year and a half since she first became my therapist. She is my first ever therapist.

I’ve been seeing my therapist for several months (since like October I think). I was going through a really bad episode where I was dealing with intense grief and anxious attachment withdrawal from a breakup AND panic attacks/anxiety/OCD. She was very helpful with the anxiety and OCD which I think was more in line with the kind of stuff she prefers to do. When I was having bad grief I would just sit there and cry and she didn’t really do or say anything.

I have been still struggling a lot with the breakup stuff and have been in communication with my ex to varying degrees/purposes pretty much this whole time. The best I can summarize the dynamic is that I am anxious and I strongly suspect he’s fearful avoidant so we do that dance.

He has never been anything but honest with me about what he’s capable of, but it’s also a really messy situation obviously and I’m often feeling frustrated/sad. I want to work on my own healing/attachment wounds independently of that (and say that to her) but I feel like our sessions are just me venting and I feel pretty directionless. It’s also obvious to me that she doesn’t like that I’m talking with him or think I should be, which I don’t think should be so obvious to me in the way it is, if that makes sense? I often feel like I annoy her.

Our previous session she kind of made me mad. I’ve been trying to tell her that I’m trying to challenge my assumptions and see how my core wounds show up in situations and be better at self regulation, but she actively encourages and validates my anxious interpretations of things. I think she is trying to validate my feelings and get me to set boundaries that if things are hurting me I should remove myself from the situation. But I don’t want to have to always remove myself from a situation because my anxious attachment was triggered. I’m being triggered by things I knew going into it would be the case, and then things go well and I start to hope/want them to not be true anymore, and instead of pointing that out to me she’s basically telling me “you’re right, he shouldn’t be doing that”.

She seemed to get visibly frustrated with me during this particular session and I felt like she was literally arguing with me that he isn’t showing me any difference from the past to now which I genuinely think is not true. I’m the one experiencing the actual situations so I feel like I would know.

I don’t even think she’s necessarily wrong that this might not be a good idea but I don’t think she’s appropriately doing anything to lead me to that conclusion organically.

And she’ll say like “maybe you should focus on healing that part of yourself” or whatever and I’m like yes!! How??? You’re my therapist??????

I don’t know how to tell her this because I feel really uncomfortable and awkward because she’s like, my age and feels like a peer more than a professional I get a service from at this point.

Should I even tell her or should I just break up with her? I don’t know if these are things that could change, but I really don’t feel like explaining this whole saga/pattern to a new person either.

I've been seeing my therapist for a little over a year now. At the beginning, I honestly didn't think she was the right fit for me. Someone close to me even encouraged me to find another therapist because they felt I wasn't improving after several sessions. I even saw two other psychologists but never followed through with them.

I'm really glad I stayed.

Over the past year, I've noticed a lot of changes in myself. I don't fidget during our sessions anymore, I trust her much more now, and for the first time, when she recently told me she was proud of me, I actually believed her.

After our last session, I ended up writing what was supposed to be a reflection, but it somehow became a thank-you letter. It's mostly about how I've changed over the past year and how grateful I am that I gave therapy a time to grow.

I'm wondering if it's appropriate to send it.

Would that cross any boundaries? Or do therapists generally appreciate hearing this kind of feedback?

I'd especially love to hear from therapists, but I'd also appreciate hearing from clients who have done something similar. Thank you.

I started therapy 3 years ago as a result of dealing with a tumultuous relationship and just having the resources to vent and work through self confidence and understanding. I’ve gone to 3 different therapists over that time and have stuck with one and have taken breaks because I haven’t found somebody that works for me.

I have not ever had a breakthrough and ‘dug deep’ into issues I feel that I face, I feel like it’s surface level conversation where I’m just being consoled. I’ve been doing well mentally before tumble that I have felt going to my current therapist is fine because I knew that what I need right now is to get stuff off of my chest and that’s just become what’s is to me but what I want right now is more. I want to be asked questions that make me think and help me overcome my circumstances and be promoted with new ways of thinking and overcoming my circumstances.

How can I find more of what I need and having an open communication type setting verus what I’ve experienced.

Girl I know you are writing down details so you don’t forget, but how do you PERCEIVE me?

Is it normal for a certified play therapist to bill for the play session and bill separately for the parent to discuss progress? The therapist I would like to work with my child bills for.both. I feel like the follow up with the parent should be included? Is this typical?

I've been struggling with a multitude of things (ADHD, Depression, Anxiety) for eight years now.

I don't particularly enjoy being alive, and haven't for about two years now. We've discussed at length my passive suicidal ideation.

But after so much time I realized that this part of me is incurable and untreatable. I can't make myself un-see the truth. I don't want anything in life anymore. I'm not interested in a more lucrative job, or more friends, or anything. Honestly, the only thing I really want is to want something, anything, but all of it is valid and fleeting.

I don't even crave socializing or friendships. My friends mean little to me and I don't know why. I sometimes miss romantic connection, but I don't think I'm capable of giving or receiving love and it would be unethical to link with someone when I feel this numb so persistently.

But I think I've spent enough money and time to learn that it cannot be fixed - this is just me. So how do I go.about ending that without getting locked up somewhere? I'm not going to kill myself, I just don't think I can get out of the rut of realizing the futility in it all.

What's the best way to say that?

So I’ve been seeing my therapist for about 2 years now. She’s a newer therapist and practices primarily from a psychodynamic lens. I’m very attached to her and our relationship has had many ups and downs. I had some problems with sending her emails outside of session, but I had mostly corrected that.

Earlier this week she got frustrated with me and said she has to “work so much harder on me” than with her other clients. She kept comparing me to her other clients which hurt my feelings. She also referred to me as “exhausting”. She’s going on vacation next week and I left the session feeling dis regulated.

I was feeling very hurt and typed up a not-so-nice email. Most of my previous outside of session contact had been late at night when drunk, so instead of sending the email in the moment I waited until the morning. I saw that as a sign of growth for myself. Here’s the email (not my finest moment, but I really needed to express my pain): “You don’t have to see me anymore if you don’t want to. I’m sorry that talking to me is so exhausting and that I seem ungrateful. You are very good to me and I hate to make your job harder. I didn’t realize that you still think I’m so hard to work with. You can forget about me and focus on y

So, for more context, this is in the US and it's a Buddhist center. I have some friends that go there and it's really queer friendly. I am in a very bad place mentally and in desperate need of community, but I also don't really want to do it if I'm forcing someone out of their established community even if it's "their ethical responsibility as the therapist" .

The congregation seems decently large and when I went last it seemed like 30-50 people were there? And my partner and I only saw her for a few months at a school clinic before she graduated a couple months ago (it was a grad program I believe).

So...considering this, is it possible for us to coexist there? I'm confused about the rules/ethics of the situation. When I saw her and waved she looked a little shocked and I don't necessarily want to make assumptions as to why...but I am worried it had to do with some fear of what me being there might mean.

Meine Panikattacken werden immer schlimmer, und ich glaube nicht mehr, dass es nur Panikattacken sind. Seit Kurzem habe ich auch Halluzinationen. Ich sehe Gegenstände, die sich von selbst bewegen, Geräusche machen oder „lebendig“ werden. Während dieser Episoden fühlt es sich an, als würden die Wände plötzlich viel näher kommen. Ich habe auch anfallsartige Episoden, in denen ich auf dem Boden liege, mit mir selbst rede, schreie oder weine, Dinge schlage, mich würge und mir die Haare ausreiße.

Was passiert, wenn ich draußen bin: Ich zucke oder zucke plötzlich ohne ersichtlichen Grund, selbst wenn mich nichts erschreckt hat. Ich zittere viel stärker als sonst, obwohl ich mich völlig wohl fühle. Ich sehe oft Dinge aus dem Augenwinkel, oder vielleicht bilde ich sie mir auch nur ein, und ich spüre, wie mich etwas aus dem Nichts „berührt“, obwohl da nichts ist. Warum passiert das?

I wasn't feeling like I was getting better after two years (among other issues) so I terminated with both my therapist and psychiatrist and got new ones. While I think I've settled on a decent therapist and psychiatrist now I can't help but compare to my old therapist and psychiatrist. I see now that while they weren't perfect they were actually a good fit for me and after two years of course there would be ups and downs. Another issue complicating things is I did have some sort of transference with both of them. With my therapist I felt like he was a friend, and with my psychiatrist it was more like I felt like he was my dad or something. I'm finding I was more bonded to them than I cared to admit and I miss them now. I'm not sure I did what's best for me but I'm also not sure if I just feel that way because of the transference.

When I terminated with them I think I blindsided them and I didn't want a termination session with my therapist. I felt like it would be too hard for me. Did I reach a point of no return? Does it make more sense to continue with my new therapist and psychiatrist and see how it goes? I feel lost.