[Ntuitive]

I'm creating this poll to see how sane we are. Have you ever seen a psychiatrist and or therapist before?

 

[Vivid Melody]

Yes but only when I was younger because my mom made me. She thought I had oppositional disorder because I disagreed with her all the time *rolls eyes* So no, it didn't help. I didn't mind talking to her though. She was a friend of the family. But I never really needed it or found it beneficial only fun (sometimes).

 

[Curiously]

I saw one for six months two years ago. Talk therapy. I found my therapist helpful given where I was at that time in my life. I decided to end it because I believed I benefited as much as I could from the sessions, and there was not much more I would gain from subsequent sessions. I still practice some of the breathing and visualization techniques I learned, and I wouldn't rule out seeking talk therapy again if I believed I needed it or if my internal/inner resources were simply shot to hell.

 

[HorribleAesthete]

In my youth, I used to look upon the notion with derision. I have since undergone a transformation in thinking, and very much want to seek therapy at some point in the relatively near future. I think I have some unresolved issues from my youth that could benefit from such therapy, and I have enormous amounts of unearned guilt that I cannot seem to shake.

 

[Arclight]

Very recently.. It helped immensely.. A lot of who I am today was because of what I learned going there.
Sometimes it's really good to have an impartial, insightful and sensitive person to talk to about things.
My counselor did an awesome job of leading me to me.

 

[DreamingSoul]

I did when I was younger but that when my parents were divorced and the court ordered it. Next Friday, I'm going to see one since she targeted more on HSP.

 

[Terrestrial Wisdom]

I act as my own therapist. When needed the sessions are very beneficial.

:crazy:

 

[Agape]

I went through some traumas on my youth and should have seen a psychiatrist but I am very good at going to the source of the problems. I manage to heal those inner wounds on my own without any professional health . I am my own therapist and the therapist of others..been hearing problems and giving advice through a lifetime..seems to help in those aspects. I also have some friends I can talk about everything without feeling judge at all and that also really helps a lot.

Think it could help in some cases but it all depends of the psychiatrist. It is sort like dating lol..you have to find one that you feel a connection and that sense in her/him a safe place where you can share what bothers you.

 

[Arclight]

Psychiatrists are tuned more into the medical side of things. They are medical Doctors and I find over all they take a medical approach to counseling.
I think Psychology and general counselors are a better choice unless you have an actual medical condition. Bi polar, Hyperactivity, Schizophrenia, Hormonal imbalances. Because often these conditions also require medicinal therapy in conjunction with counseling.

Natural grieving, depression, sensitivity issues and behavior problems (emotional distress,anger, substance abuse, dealing with loss or change, confidence issues, confusion and closing the distance between your ego and your true self) Are not really medical conditions, but rather self imposed prisons that only you really hold they key to.
If what you really need is a perspective shift EFT (emotional focused therapy) and Psychology are better bets.

JMO

 

[Dalien]

Saw a counselor two different times. First one (1993) cut me loose, when I started journaling...she was wonderful. Second (1997), well, hell! she wasn't much help...told me to draw a picture...I did: I wrote a poem using color words that painted a picture *rolling eyes, as I just typed that* and she was none too happy with me in an overall way. So, I cut her loose! Yet, after some time, I realized she had helped.

 

[Ntuitive]

I act as my own therapist. When needed the sessions are very beneficial.

:crazy:

This made me laugh. I'm actually the same way.. sort of, However I'm bipolar and my main problem was just physical, or I guess mentally/both. I'm just thinking of how much energy I had (well supposedly bipolar brains are physically different) so this was kind of out of my control no matter how hard I tried. But once I started taking medicine things got a lot better and I could just think more rationally.

 

[owlet]

I went to counselling for a while when I was younger (one was family counselling, the other was individual) - the woman doing family counselling actually terrified me. I've never been so scared of anyone ever. The only way she helped was to scare me so much I had a breakdown and got all my negative emotion out in one go (when I feel it should have been let out in bursts, seeing as it was repressed anger).
The one for individual counselling was terrible: she asked me a few questions about myself and came to the conclusion I was a stereotypical bookworm who had no friends (which I wasn't and I did have friends). I was painfully shy and couldn't ask for a glass of water and the room we were in was baking, so I ended up feeling awful and crying, which she took as a sign she'd succeeded in some way.

I didn't go back after the first few sessions.

I also learned CBT and did it on myself, which worked pretty well for my depression

 

[Ntuitive]

@laurie17 Yeah there are some terrifying counselors out there that seem to almost do more damage than good. I went to one before and I just left feeling even worse and didn't go back. CBT is one of the most logical ways because it, well, makes you look at things more logically.

 

[owlet]

@laurie17 Yeah there are some terrifying counselors out there that seem to almost do more damage than good. I went to one before and I just left feeling even worse and didn't go back. CBT is one of the most logical ways because it, well, makes you look at things more logically.

Haha Yeah, that's a good way of putting it. I just kind of got sick of being depressed (after two years) and decided enough was enough, lol.
Even my mum said the woman was pretty scary and my sister wouldn't talk to her at all. It's pretty bad if you spend time going to one and they just make it worse. It's a shame, because counsellors have such a good opportunity to help people and some of them really ruin it...

 

[treeghost]

I have not kept continuing to see a therapist until this time around, and I think it's the right time and place to being committed to it albeit maybe just a little late.. according to personal views. However. It has been helping me gain a bit more clarity on my emotions and thus helping me to express it a bit better.

When I was younger, I used to think therapy and whatnot was succumbing to weakness like some people believe, like I couldn't control or handle me myself. But the older I've gotten, the more it has been thrown in my face that everyone needs help and should accept the help they need, and that it's not really giving in to weakness but opening up those wounds and seeing what it takes to strengthen it.

 

[Dalien]

I act as my own therapist. When needed the sessions are very beneficial.

:crazy:

Yes, mam, that's me now and has been for quite a long while. Strength is what you have! But, this doesn't mean that it is weakness to seek help when needed or wanted.

 

[Jamie.Ether]

I went to a few, off and on. I went when I was 13, again 15-16, took a break, then 17-18.
The first one I wanted to go to. The other two times, I had to go because of behavioural problems [self-harm] or else it would be court ordered, so I had no real choice.

I resented counseling for a long time. I wanted to go to some fancy psychiatrist, do ink blot tests and the such. I didn't want to sit down and talk to a stranger about my feelings and dig up the past. I also had an interest in psychology and was curious as to learn more about it through counseling.

I only realized recently that counseling REALLY is what you make it. The second one I went to, I had the intentions of getting put on sleeping meds because my insomnia was really bothering me. And that's what I did, so mission accomplished. I wasn't really willing to open up to my counselors, so nothing was really accomplished beyond that.

To me, it felt really awkward and unnatural. I didn't feel any genuine empathy from the counselors I had, so I didn't feel led to open up to them. I worked through some of the issues on my own outside of counseling.

 

[ohnoezitsjoez]

I am certainly not against the idea at all, and even see a real benefit to counting a distinction in getting the medical viewpoint.

However for me, I have taken painful lengths to be self aware, and base my findings on objective data. If I believe something, I have a reason. I am not implying I am above it, not at all.

Now I fully understand there is value is getting the perspective of an external and unbiased source. However I would have to explain everything in order to give proper context. I am not the sum of the last 15 minutes of my life, and compounded years is hard to condense. Then there is the fact that I would have to pause and continue in the next session, and this person isnt going to remember those details. And those details are important. If I have to keep reminding them of details, i can see that getting frustrating. I cant buy coming to conclusions without data. i would like to do one out of curiosity though, as a chance to observe and just see.

I do a lot of self therapy, it really helps my mindsets etc, it just doesn't alter the circumstances that breed the mindsets.

 

[Decoy24601]

The only times I've been to a therapist/psychiatrist is when my dad and step mom forced me to go after they got full custody of me. They tried to get me to say things to the therapist, who would then report his findings back to them. I hated it, and therefore just said "Oh everything's fine " when that was actually around the beginning of a really nasty few-year-long depression.

 

[Zech]

One (very minor) weakness of this thread/poll is it doesn't distinguish between psychiatry, which is a branch of medicine, and psychotherapy, which is a "talking treatment". Both have their place and a particular psychiatrist may, occasionally, also be a therapist.

Now I fully understand there is value is getting the perspective of an external and unbiased source.

It seems like you're maybe imagining that the client says what's on his mind and the therapist then responds with his perspective or even advice (which may or may not be useful). That maybe what happens sometimes but is not, i believe, typical of most therapy.

A lot that happens in therapy is unconscious - it isn't conscious problem solving.

One perspective on therapy is that it provides a substitute experience. The person who as a baby/child missed out on secure attachment to his parents (with all the benefits that would have flowed from that) can now have a secure, trusting relationship with the therapist as a substitute experience.

Then there is the fact that I would have to pause and continue in the next session, and this person isnt going to remember those details. And those details are important. If I have to keep reminding them of details, i can see that getting frustrating.

You're right, those details are important. And in my experience therapists are very good at remembering them.

Following quote is interesting and is from the wikipedia entry for psychotherapy:

In 2001, Bruce Wampold of the University of Wisconsin published the book The Great Psychotherapy Debate.[33] In it Wampold, a former statistician who went on to train as a counseling psychologist, reported that

1. psychotherapy is indeed effective,
2. the type of treatment is not a factor,
3. the theoretical bases of the techniques used, and the strictness of adherence to those techniques are both not factors,
4. the therapist's strength of belief in the efficacy of the technique is a factor,
5. the personality of the therapist is a significant factor,
6. the alliance between the patient(s) and the therapist (meaning affectionate and trusting feelings toward the therapist, motivation and collaboration of the client, and empathic response of the therapist) is a key factor.

Wampold therefore concludes that "we do not know why psychotherapy works".

I think this captures what's important - psychotherapy does work, but we don't know exactly why or how. A key thing , i believe, is the quality of the relationship that's built up between therapist and client (point 6).