If you ever received mental therapy, how long did you go for? ANd how many times in your life did you seek it?

Question

In what ways did you like your therapist, and in what ways did you feel something may have been missing from psycho-therapy (if any)?
Do you find that it indeed helped you develop into the person you are today/beneficial to your well-being and help you help yourself w/resolving some life challenges?

Answer 1

I've been going since I was 14, and I'm 24 now. Sometimes when I leave the office I feel a lot better and sometimes I don't, but I do know that if I hadn't started going, I wouldn't have made it this far. I was actually required to start going at 14 after two failed suicide attempts, and there were a few more after starting the therapy, but I haven't tried in the past 8 years. Most of the time I feel better after having talked to someone about my problems and issues and feelings. It's like a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders by just being able to share with someone and knowing that while they might not necessarily understand what I'm talking about or going through, they can help me by giving me suggestions for ways to cope with the stress or give me ideas on how to work through my issues.

It has helped mold me into who I am today, because I am no longer the violent, angry, self-absorbed person I was before I began therapy. There were things that happened to me in my childhood that therapy helped me overcome, and some things that happened to me in my young adulthood that the therapy is helping me overcome today. I would recommend that if someone were considering therapy as an option that they at least give it a try before saying absolutly not.

Answer 2

I have been in therapy for 3 years or so; results are highly dependent on the therapist and on the energy you put into the process; I found taking notes after therapy and knowing clearly what I wanted to resolve to be very important. I felt something was missing if I noticed she was not quite paying enough attention and drifting off in subject matter; this has to be human nature for someone who listens to other people's problems all the time; I basically just let her know I needed her to remember some things about my story that she was forgetting, and she was very good in responding to my needs. Combining therapy with Zoloft, diet and exercise definitely helped me change from a person who was terrified of the world and of being alone and stuck in a bad marriage to someone who is happy for the most part...the world is not such a scary place any more.