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Wanna cuddle?
Dear Counseling Center
Kindly get your shit together. Love, RabbitMage.
Because of things in my life, I thought it would be a good idea for me to have a therapist handy. When I started school this fall I got 8 free sessions with one of our psych interns. I was unsure at first, but she was freaking amazing. Alas, my eight sessions were soon up. Fret not, RabbitMage! There is a low cost, similar alternative.
I called three weeks ago and got set up for an appointment on Oct. 15th. Awesome. The website says appointments are $25 for the first one, and $10 thereafter. I can afford that, even!
The 15th rolls around, and I'm heading up the road to pull money from the ATM before hitting the freeway. En route, I get a call from the counselor. She had a flat tire, can't make it, has to reschedule. Okay, sucks, but life happens. No big deal. We reschedule for next week.
The 22nd rolls around. I've already driven across town and I'm trying to hunt down their building (there is no signage facing the road-or anywhere) and I get another phonecall. Another flat tire. This time I'm pretty pissed. I wasted a good amount of gas doing that shit. But, it happens. As it turns out, she can squeeze me in the following day.
So, today. Today I arrive at my appointment time, 10 AM. I'm presented with paperwork that takes 20 minutes to fill out. I've filled out a lot of medical forms in my past. These are easily the dumbest ones I've ever seen. Once that's done, we go into a room and go over what I just wrote down. That takes about another 10 minutes. Once that's done, we delve into what I actually want to discuss, why I'm there, what I want to accomplish. And then the counselor decides to share her personal information. About her depression, her illnesses, her kids, her ex...this takes up a decent chunk of our remaining time. Then as I'm talking, she tells me we don't have time to cover anything else, because they only do 45 minute sessions. Awesome.
Also, she told me I owed $30 for the session. I got it down to $20 for that appointment.
I have another one next week that I'm really not looking forward to. I'm trying to give this place a chance but fuck, I don't know why.
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Originally posted by
RabbitMage
I don't know why.
I don't know why either.
A therapist who can't get her shit together enough to attend more than one session in three, and who complains about her own life to you, can't be much good.
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MOON GIRL FIGHTS CRIME
I'm sorry. It really sucks when you are willing and ready to make the commitment to therapy and then....the therapist drops the ball. You need to be able to have a trust-based relationship with your counselor, and it doesn't help if they are as flakey as this one sounds.
I hope this works out for you. Is she the only person there you can see?
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Wanna cuddle?
Because I'm broke, I can't afford a 'real psychologist'. The counselor at the college was a psych intern, I think most of the people at this new center are focused on becoming marriage and family counselors. This is part of their training, and so it's really, really cheap. There's one other place in town that offers a similar service, but they're even more of a drive for me and I can't get them to return my phone calls.
If she doesn't work out I can ask to see a different student, if one is available.
Edit: This is the equivalent of going to the student barber shop for a haircut, only with your mental health. Fuck.
Last edited by RabbitMage; 23 Oct 2009 at 11:53 PM.
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The Queen
Ugh. That is a shitty, shitty therapy experience. I sincerely hope the next one goes better, assuming she doesn't reschedule on you.
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DeWitt Hoser
RM, it's pretty clear right out of the gate that this therapy relationship is NOT a good match for you. I'd ask for a different counselor now before wasting money on more sessions that will essentially be useless. There needs to be some trust in one's counselor for it to be effective, and so far I don't see a single reason why you should trust her with your vulnerabilities. Heck, you can't even trust that she'll show up. Sometimes it takes a while to find a halfway decent match.
Last edited by 5er; 24 Oct 2009 at 04:40 PM.
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Stegodon
In the meantime, if you want to hear someone bitching about life just let us know. We're here to help.
Last edited by Jaglavak; 26 Oct 2009 at 06:58 PM.
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Member
You should have received a copy of the informed consent document you signed. It should tell you if the counselor is a trainee, supervisee, or licensee. Given the cancellations plus the amount of self-disclosure, I'd encourage you to contact the counselor's superior to discuss your concerns and to find out if there is a different counselor you can see.
Ergo
Last edited by Ergo All Cats Are Tables; 06 Nov 2009 at 07:24 PM.
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