Posted by Dinah on December 19, 2002, at 23:02:57
In reply to Re: spending a fortune on therapy, posted by pinkeye on December 19, 2002, at 16:42:22
Aggh!! Don't scare me!
Seriously, I'm my therapist's only this long term client (I think). I finally summoned up the courage to ask him if he was planning to kick me out because I hadn't gotten better. He said the general idea is that you don't stay in therapy this long, that you learn to cope on your own and only come in for new problems. He said he'd be a pretty rotten therapist if his clients routinely came in for depression or anxiety and were still here 6 years later (I think that was how long at the time). But he said most therapists have one or two long term clients, and that as long as I found it helpful he wouldn't *gasp* terminate me. We've had several sessions over the year or two since where we re-evaluate this plan.
I'm not sure what that means about my mental state, that he considers me worthy of lifer status (grin). But I think it's a combination of the long term biological nature of my disorders (coupled with my desire to keep meds to a minimum due to unwanted side effects) and probably some sort of personality disorder, combined with a lack of a social support system. We both see it as similar to insulin for a diabetic, or as an alternative to increased mood stabilizers or anti-depressants. It helps keep my stress level down and thus keeps my illness at a manageable level and me pretty much at least minimally functional.
Before I mustered up the courage to ask him, I did a lot of research on long term supportive therapy. Not that that's all we do, but it's a big part of it, bigger at some times than others. So I guess the term of therapy depends on the therapist's orientation (but mine is oriented to short term for the most part), the goals of therapy, and the needs of the client.
poster:Dinah
thread:1889
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20021109/msgs/1909.html