I see my long time therapist one on one about once a month and it’s usually a 45 minute or so session depending on how it’s going.
When I was younger, family therapy did help me. We were lucky to get a good therapist who really stuck to the parameters of positive communication. There were some rough conversations, but all in all, it turned out Ok.
These days… sometimes I’m doing well and it is only 30 minutes. Sometimes I’m not doing well at all and it’s a full hour.
Sometimes when I’m really not doing well I’ll book twice a month. Sometimes I’m doing really well, and I’ll e-mail.
Plus I can vent at my support group which I’ve been going to once a month. Sometimes I go more often, other times I’ve skipped months.
I see my therapist once a week, for approx. 35 to 40 min it varies. I am sure if I was really unwell and had an issue, she would see me for the full 45 minutes - I am starting to like her as a therapist
I never seen a therapist, once my pdoc told me to see therapist, and i told him, if none of the psychiatrists have knowledge with my symptoms how a therapist can help. I can only be helped if i dont take my medication, but since i am taking it and my delusions are on 0 scale, how else a therapist can help me.
My therapist doesn’t try to help me with the nitty gritty of this disease, but with the guilt I have from what I did when I was at my worst. She also helps me with my confidence and helps me get out of some of my delusions. Even with meds, my delusions are on a 5 scale sometimes. (better then an 11 scale without them)
She also helps me find way to cope with stress and anxiety triggers. You know… talk it down and stay mindful, meditate before reaching for the meds right off.
Not related to Sz, but a problem for me in the past… She also helps me talk down my alcohol and other cravings and recognize my sneaky brained thinking on that subject.
She also sort of interpreted my Sz into terms my family could understand so they were more supportive and patient.
I can understand why it might no work for some… but it sure has helped me.
I’ve been seeing one once a week as I just started at a mental health center some time ago. Been talking about my anxiety really, but I’ve never liked therapists much at all…“And what’s the thought behind that?” I mean sometimes there just isn’t a thought at all…especially when I walk into a therapists office…even aside from the trauma of having been pushed over the edge by a therapist in the first place, I’ve never had much to talk about with these people.
But I’ve been making the best of it and trying to explain where I’m coming from. Had a much easier job of that when I met with my new doctor there though. If only I could be myself with these people…can’t…for some reason I have to play stupid when talking to a therapist…it just comes over me and I can’t snap out of it. Due to this they never really get to know me.
However the advantage at this mental health center is that they can and do talk amongst themselves so they may stand a chance at figuring bits and pieces out.
I see my therapist once a month along with my psychiatrist. It’s a clinic where I go to where you have to see both a psychiatrist and a therapist. We meet for about 20-30 minutes each time. It is just enough time for him to talk about the weather and type some stuff into a computer. He really sucks as a therapist, but my last one at the clinic was even worse, so I am not switching again. He also takes a really long time to get back to me by phone. I am going to have to call him again today to reschedule an appointment. I called on Thursday night and left a message. He still hasn’t responded to me, and it is now Tuesday afternoon.
I see a therapist once a month use to be twice a month but I was forced to switch when my last therapist quit. My current therapist is a lot more positive then my past therapists. She has helped a lot with focusing on other things rather than my illnesses.
I quit seeing my therapist over the Spring semester. I saw him at the bank the other day. I didn’t get his card and his number is unlisted, so I’ll have to crash a session (I’ll wait patiently downstairs, there won’t be a fun story from this). I stopped the sessions, because I wanted to focus entirely on school.
I’ve been seeing therapists off and on since I was a kid. We had a family one, because of the divorce. I am okay with them, but I used to stick to one topic and that made it hard to progress in other areas. When I was working at the Law Library I was paranoid, but I had a sleeping dragon at home (the now ex-boyfriend).
Now I’ll start seeing my therapist probably once every two weeks or three weeks.
Mine is the same way. I see her every two or three weeks for about 45 minutes, sometimes more. I come prepared with a list and she likes that. I have a lot of guilt from when I was involved with drugs and drinking. I developed the delusion that my mom was molesting me and told everyone this. I had false memories of it and became very psychotic. I think it was from smoking wet as that stuff causes schizophrenic episodes. I didn’t realize what it was when I did it, and I can’t imagine why anyone would ever want to do it knowing what it does. It made me out of my mind. I don’t think it caused my illness though because when I was 13 I was diagnosed sza. When I was really psychotic for the two years after my symptoms cropped up again I put my mom through hell. Our family was worried about her health. They were worried about me too, but they thought my mom would have a heart attack or stroke from the stress because she was taking care of me and I was very symptomatic. I feel a lot of guilt for what I’ve put my mom through over the years. It’s hard for me to let the past be and accept that I am no longer that person. I feel like I’m a bad person and deserve to be punished. I’m working on it though. It sounds like you have a lot of support J.
I agree! My mom has forgiven me long ago because I was not me at the time. I feel bad for the people who do not have the support we have through this horrible illness. I don’t know where I would be without my mom. I can’t sing her praises enough. My biggest fear is losing her. She will die before me and there’s nothing I can do. Now I have Jason though and am learning to lean on him. So when my mom’s time does come I will have Jason to help me through it, and also my family who has always been there for me as well.
I don’t see a therapist just a psychiatrist. I’d like to go to one if I could but I’m not able to talk to people. I had a therapist when I was in college but he wasn’t very good. He didn’t seem that interested.
I don’t really see a therapist, I see a psychiatrist. She told me once I should look into deeper therapy, but it’s one thing I’m not in budget for, and I think it would take me too long to get to trust someone else. When I had my last break down and thought I was infected with bugs (that only I could see) and was having panic attacks by the night I would see her once a week. Then it dropped to three months, now it’s about every 6 months unless I call in for an emergency appointment.
Usually her meetings are about 15-30 minutes depending on what I have to talk about. But it takes me more to get there and back home since I rely on the local bus system, and I tend to sit in and wait for her a long time in the waiting room. I don’t know if it’s because she’s testing me to get me to become more assertive and request more of her time or if it just works out that way.
i find therapy too…this is going to sound wrong but i’m gonna say it anyway…easy? i feel like someone needs to take an emotional sledgehammer to me to actually get anywhere with me tbh. i’m trying to start therapy but i don’t think it will do any good. they’re just too…nice?
