Does counselling work for you?

Question

I have head a top counsellor say that people with strong personalities are "resistant" to counselling.
I have a very strong personality.
I had counselling for a year, which was rubbish, and I ended up with schizophrenia in a psych ward soon afterwards.
Counselling was so useless for me, because just talking about...things...and myself does not help at all. And I don't think that counselling is the best way to prevent schizophrenia from developing further, by itself.
I told my counsellor at the time that I kept seeing things and hearing things, and she just blanked me off on it, saying that it was my imagination.

Answer 1

How many counsellors have you seen? If your counsellor just ignored the fact that you were hearing things, her license should be taken away.

Counselling for schizophrenia, in my mind, is probably not really effective because schizo is so much a matter of brain chemicals. You can live a completely normal life if you find the right pills and keep on taking them.

You need a good psychiatrist and a great therapist. If you don't have them, www.nami.org can help you find a dr & therapist, and if you can't pay them, nami will assist you in finding ways to pay the drs.

Get help now, unless you want to get back to the psych ward :(( btdt.

TX Mom

Answer 2

I know exactly what you are saying. Counseling did absolutely *nothing* for my problems either. I tried several councilors over the years, thinking that they were the problem. It turns out the "problem" was me, because I do have one of those "strong personalities" that is not affected by counseling. Like you, talking about things and myself and my family life and how I view things does absolutely nothing for me. Less than nothing - the only result was that I became very frustrated and annoyed because it was not doing me any good or bringing about even a slight improvement. It was doubly irritating because I am a very private person who does not especially enjoy baring her soul to a stranger. If doing so was the answer to my problems, then I would do so gladly, but that has not been the case.

I have also had councilors write off things I was telling them, as if *I* didn't know what I was experiencing in my own life. Apparently many of them feel like they're mind readers.

When my last councilor asked me to tell her what color I thought humanity was (as in, red, blue, green - not the color of different races), and the councilor before her concluded (after 10 minutes) that I had been sexually abused (even though no one has *ever* even come *close* to sexually abusing me - and if they did, I would have had them put in jail by now) I became fed up with that whole treatment style. Unfortunately, my "issues" remain, but counseling is certainly not the answer for me.

Answer 3

Schizophrenia is a disorder which is best treated with medication and therapy. Since you don't find talking about yourself helps, maybe a group therapy situation would work better for you. In group you get to connect with other people who actually know what you are talking about, they help you figure out your own stuff and you learn coping skills. For the medication portion of schizophrenia treatment, you need to find yourself a good psychiatrist.

The golden rule for anyone considering seeing counsellors, psychiatrists, therapists and psychologists is: keep looking until you find the person that is right for you and don't settle for anything less.

Answer 4

Counseling will neither prevent nor cure schizophrenia. If your therapist has suggested this to you, I strongly recommend that you seriously consider seeking out a new therapist. Schizophrenia involves both structural AND neurochemical changes in the brain which are not reversible (though they ARE quite treatable with medication).

For people with this condition, the best counseling can hope to do is to help you address social skills deficits and/or learn to manage your feelings regarding your condition. This has nothing whatsoever to do with a "strong personality". It is simply the nature of the disorder itself.

Answer 5

The entire concept of paying someone whom you do not necessarily feel close to to listen to you talk about your problems seems nothing but absurd in my mind. I have tried counselling myself and have come to the conclusion that the entire field of psychology is ALMOST completely a myth making/money making machine. Why should any human being pay someone to just to listen to them? There is nothing a so-called "professionally" trained psychologist or psychiatriast can do for you that any other person who is willing to listen to you couldn't also do. http://www.antipsychiatry.org/

Answer 6

I have used a councillor & at no point did they ever suggest that anything was my imagination. The councillor I used never told me any answers to my questions. He guided me, through my disscussions with him, to find my own answers. If , for example, I was hearing things he he would ask me what I was hearing & why did I think I was hearing them. He was never once dismissive of anything. I think it depends on the councillor & their own personallity

Answer 7

I see a therapist. It has really worked wonders for me, I have found answers to many problems I have had, and am thinking in new ways.

Answer 8

How can anyone get to know anyone in so short a time?? It's crap!

Answer 9

it did jack shite for me, but i would keep reccomending it to others because i think i am just awkward and i dont need help.

Answer 10

She's exactly right. This is not your alter ego answering.