How often do you go?

[Deleted member 42665]

How often do you go and how long have you been going so far?

weekly for me (with a few weeks 2x) and 2 months now.

 

[Eagle3]

I can only afford to go once a week, but I have been known to ask for an extra session if i need it and can afford it. I've been with my current therapist almost 2 years now, and seen other therapists off and on for about 10 years before that. I'm going to be with this current T for several years more, assuming the money and the old man hold out :-)

 

[Crow]

3x a month regularly and sometimes 2x a week (2 90 minute sessions 1 60 minute). 6 yrs serious and 23 yrs total. Two more years to go.

 

[Deleted member 37474]

I went weekly for 10 weeks. Told to switch to someone new. Start in a little over a week. Nerves are starting to build! Once I trust her we will do emdr. Not sure if I can financially handle weekly this summer because it costs $60 a visit. (I make more during the school year).

 

[UnicornSightings]

A little over 2 years now and I go once a week. Don't think I have a lot longer there but I'll try to drag it out as much as possible lol

 

[Holdingontohope]

I have been in therapy off and on for over 10 years. I've been seeing my current therapist for about 2 years. I am scheduled for regular weekly sessions. Some times, when I am really struggling, I end up going 2 or 3 times a week. There was even a week I went 5 times, I think. I try to stick to just once a week though. I sometimes feel like I'm too "needy" but my T is gracious about it and I have come to trust him to be honest about his availability and I am working on building up outside support.

 

[Teamwork]

Every two weeks and it's gruelling to wait in between appt. he will respond to email but lately he has not been responding much and I don't know what to make of that.

 

[Julesy]

On and off in therapy for 3 decades now. Solid 2x/week for past 8 years with same T. Just started doing trauma work recently...feels like starting all over in some ways, though it did take 8 years of building the trust to get to this point. Recently increased time from. 1 hour to 1.5 hour sessions due to intensity of sesh, and needing extra time to be put back together before driving home.

 

[agirls]

I've been seeing my current T for almost four years. I went 1x week regularly with some extra sessions in there when I was in crisis. I couple of times we tried to ease into every other week and every time something happened and I was back to ever week. The last three months it's been 2x week because of the emergence of repressed memories of some heavy trauma. We will figure out if I can handle 1x week again soon. Maybe.

 

[Tornadic Thoughts]

I used to rarely ever go, for fear of complicating things even more, but that was after some less than pleasant experiences along the way in encountering a therapist who dozed off multiple times while I was talking, one who spoke in heavy paternalistic tones throughout our sessions and rarely, if ever, made eye contact, one who treated my scheduled appointments as more of a f'n bible study and a chance to be a preacher rather than the therapy sessions I was paying for, and all of whom very blatantly ignored the multiple very detailed reports of traumatic childhood, teen, and adult sexual and domestic violence I endured through several decades.

That still baffles me and heavily jades my opinion of various professionals who follow in their footsteps. In addition to my experiences as a patient seeking help, what all I observed from the professional side as being deemed acceptable from various levels of staff charged with the care of others who could easily alter the path of another in some not so pleasant ways by the power of their pens and such, as observed by a 13 year employee in the residential vocational rehab/mental health arena, also leaves me rather hesitant to go to certain spaces for a helping hand. I still very clearly recall being repeatedly pulled under while being handed cinder blocks to weigh me down rather than ever being handed a life jacket to help keep me afloat.

All of those so-called professionals were the ones I'd been heavily encouraged to visit based solely on what my insurance would approve and pay for. The other therapists I sought based on researching their specialties and specific qualifications weren't in the "network", so I couldn't afford them. Little did I know at the time, but I also couldn't afford the bullshit being cleverly disguised as sufficient quality care, either.

Several years and many breakdowns and break-throughs later, I luckily discovered that our local domestic and sexual abuse shelter offers free ongoing counseling sessions to anyone who has ever been affected by either. The only qualifying factors are what you experienced, not how much money you can pay them. What a treasure/life-saver to have found. If you can afford to donate time, money, or items, they graciously accept, if not, they never make you feel guilty for not doing so.

Finally, a space to feel genuinely heard and innerstood, while experiencing some actual healing for a change, and at no cost, not creating even more fear and anxiety worrying about if I can pay, not having to worry about sessions running out, etc. They also offer a weekly support group for added connections and support, if folks wish to participate.

I've gone as often as a couple times a week and as little as once every few months or so. It all depends on how well I'm also managing my self-care and utilizing all the other tools I've gathered in my therapeutic tool box through the years. Sometimes, I just need a space to go to have someone lovingly and kindly remind me I already have the tools I need and that I'm worth the time I spend on using them.

There haven't been specifics as far as them offering, or me requesting, certain healing techniques and methods, or ordering what I wish to experience from a menu, so to speak. It just finally and simply feels like a space I am warmly welcomed, fully heard and understood, allowed to be myself in every single aspect of my being, and that alone has been one of the greatest and most meaningful treasures of all. I wish it were made readily available to anyone hurting for any reason. Perhaps one day...

 

[Julesy]

Tornadic Thoughts (Love the Name btw!),

Some of the very best and therapeutic care my family and I have received are from social services public clinics that take medicaid (medi-Cal where I am) and Medicare or amazing sliding scale options. A fancy office and hundreds of bucks an hour does not, I have found, always translate into good therapy. So glad to hear you found the right stuff at the shelter. Good stuff.

 

[Tinyflame]

Finally, a space to feel genuinely heard and innerstood, while experiencing some actual healing for a change, and at no cost, not creating even more fear and anxiety worrying about if I can pay, not having to worry about sessions running out, etc. They also offer a weekly support group for added connections and support, if folks wish to participate.

Yes.