a bit OT: for sage and anyone interested

[nobodyknowsit]

Do credentials matter?...


I think I may have posted in another thread that I am in the process of changing therapists. I just felt like the one I had wasn't such a good match at me. She was warm, and kind, and was always there for me, but I feel like i never really "clicked" with her, you know? She was a psychologist. I found out about another therapist from a friend of mine, and she is a social worker. I was wonering if the credentials matter..social worker, psychologist, psychiatrist, etc, whatever, in treating not only emet, but anything.Does theirexperience involved determine the outcome of your treatment?


Thanks. [img]smileys/smilies_01.gif[/img]

[japa]

I cannot speak to the variance among the different degress, but I can just tell you my experience.


I went to my university's counseling center and was assigned a Ph.d. psychologist who was a wonderful man. He had received his degree in 1998, and I saw him in 2000. Sessions at a university are free, and you are limited to a certain number. This man transferred me to university group therapy when my sessions were up. The head of the group was another Ph.d. psychologist. She received her degree in the 1970's, so she was quite experienced. I couldn't stand her, and most of the group members felt the same. We had discussed this outside of the group on the way to the parking lot. This woman was like a dictator...awful.


I called up the man I had had before, and I asked for a referral to another individual therapist. He referred me to a social worker that he knew. She has a Master's in Social Work, and she is a licensed clinical social worker. I have been working with her since 2002, and she is awesome. She had helped me immeasurably. I love her!


The moral of my story is that I had two therapists that helped me a lot and one that didn't help me at all. And it didn't depend on their degrees but upon them as people as far as I'm concerned.

[samara's on tv]

I've had quite a few therapists in my day. The first one I saw when I was probably in Kindergarten...I don't know why my parents had me in therapy that early but they did. I saw her on and off till about 6th grade. I didn't like her any more when I was in 6th grade, I can't tell you why but it seemed like we didn't get along very well any more. So I stopped seeing her she was a liscensed psychologist.


Then I saw another guy in about 7th grade who was a psychiatrist...a Ph.D. He put me on ritalin because he was convinced that I had ADHD. I didn't like him from the start he was really weird and seeing him just made me depressed. A few months after I stopped seeing him he ended up comitting suicide.


Then I moved to another woman who was just a psychologist in a private practice. I was about 15 when I started seeing her. I didn't like her because like EVERYTHING I told her she would go discuss that with my parents. See since I was a minor she was allowed to divulge information to them even if I didn't want her too. I saw her for about two years but I HATED seeing her. She always turned everything around and made me feel like it was my fault.


When I was about 17 I switched to another therapist who was a liscensed psychologist and she was GREAT. I totally connected with her. This was at a time where my life was totally shattered. She was so nice and I had never before gotten along so well with a therapist. At the time my Emet was pretty bad. I had gotten to a point where I wasn't eating because of fear of V*ing. She helped me through that she was SO great with it! Because of her I was pulled out of school (Which was good because she said I was about to have a nervous breakdown). Two years later when I was 19 she left to go to a private practice and I can't afford to see her there.


A few weeks after that I met with another liscensed Psycologist. She was great an everything but I kept missing appointments, I didn't really click with her and it was hard going back to the same building where I saw my other therapist. So I stopped seeing her.


Now I'm with a liscensed social worker. Me and her really click and I'm so glad I found someone to work with. She's great with trying to help me with my Emet problems and she actually can see how my childhood would have such a stressful impact on my life.


Anyway so there I have seen LOTS of therapists and it doesn't matter if they are liscenced or not some of them I clicked with, some of them I didn't. I think it just matters if you are able to connect with them.


~Monica

[nobodyknowsit]

The first one I saw when I was probably in Kindergarten...

lol, me too. that's when I started going to therapy...my mom thinks it's because that's when my sister was born...but i don't really know. I know form your story that i am younger than you are, but have probably been through just as many therapists, lol.

[nobodyknowsit]

Thanks, I was a little concerned that maybe she'd have less experience and therefore wouldn't be able to help me figure out certain things. Can you find out if a therapist is right for you at an initial consultation? Because that's all I've done so far...

[sage]

I think I mention in my paper that credentials don't matter. Experience and education don't matter. Knowing what emetophobia is doesn't matter. What matters is the relationship with the therapist, and a feeling of safety. You have to feel that they are a warm, caring person or nothing will work.

[nobodyknowsit]

Nobody is supporting me in it (not here, I don;t mean that). Everybody feels that me changing therapists isn't right..my mom is mixed about it, I just went to my psychopharmacologist who prescribes me meds, and he said he is "fearful for me", and my mom also said my perception is distorted and I am not thinking rationally. But I still think what I am doing is for the best...


my mom said a good therapist can see right through you..but I don't think the one I am leaving sees right through me..she tends to assume she know the answers to everything (because I didn't tell her everything..I didn't feel comfortable), so she never really got to the root of things. With this new therapist, I don't really know yet, it's only been one visit, so I don't think I should be spilling my guts out to her in one session (she knows i have emet, though), but I do feel reasonablycomfortable with her already...When you find a good therapist, should you feel like you can tell them anything the by the time you've only seen them once?

[sage]

Good grief, no! It took me 6 months of weekly sessions to really be able to tell my most beloved therapist everything. Trust comes gradually. The feeling of safety has probably been violated in your life so many times that it will be a long road to totally trusting someone fully. Just relax. If you like her right off the bat, then that's an excellent start.

[nobodyknowsit]

Hmm...I do like her, it's just that I worry a lot, about my treatment and all. I keep saying "what if she doesn't agree with me?", "what if she doesn't help me?", "what if i tell her something i am struggling with and she doesn't know how to help me with it, and/or has never heard of it" (not the emet, i'm referring to other matters:P; she knows about emet, anyway)..."what if her techniques don't work on me?", "what if just because i like her in the beginning doesn't mean i am going to 'click' with her in the future?"...it just keeps going...i guess maybe i'm concerned it will be years before i find the right therapist, and i will have to keep living this way...but i want everything to work out before i go off on my own...or maybe i just worry too much....


when you refer to "clicking", how do you know whether you "click" when you've been to only one or two sessions? what exactly does it mean, this early in the game?is it too soon then to know? or can you know right away?

[sage]

I think it would be really profitable for you to print out your last post and read it to her. Or at the very least, tell her all the stuff that's in it. What worries you, scares you. Spend a session talking about that. Or more than one! (I spent like 20 sessions talking about whatever, just until I got to really know and trust my therapist).


As for "clicking", I'd say you've already clicked. Cuz when you don't click it's so obvious you don't have to ask that question.

[nobodyknowsit]

But with my last therapist, I was going to her for three years and it took me a while to figure out that she wasn't right for me...I didn't know it after just the first few sessions..I actually thought she was great for me, at first..I probably would have asked the same question if I were juststarting with her..


Thanks, though. I guess that's true..that I've alreday clicked with her..maybe I just worry too much. [img]smileys/smilies_12.gif[/img]

[sage]

um...YA! lol


You worry too much babe!


Relax and work with this therapist for a while. Remember that you have to put in the effort and commitment to making it work, just as much as she has to come up with the right treatment program. Start with a positive attitude toward it, work as hard as you can....and if nothing happens then move along. I went through about 12 therapists before I found the one that actually helped me. Then it was EASY to find the next one (who I still have) cuz I knew just what to look for.


YOU'LL BE FINE. Give it a try!