Posted by laima on July 19, 2006, at 10:10:45
I've been trying to find a good therapist, with limited luck, even after a few false starts. I'd love to consider any recommendations people might have of truely skillful and helpful therapists in the Chicago area.
My main problem is debilitating bouts of anxiety and depression after a stress meltdown last year. Not functioning very well currently-no job, hard to interact socially anymore due to embaressment, etc.
What am I looking for or not looking for?
I used to have a great therapist, but she retired and vanished-I'm pretty devastated over that still. Before she vanished, she was able to model the very essence of what she taught, and was very inspiring for this reason. Since then I tried an apparently well-respected lady who insisted on rehashing my childhood (which was already covered by previous therapist, and I've come to peace with it and with my beloved parents). This new person tried to convice me that things were far, far worse than I ever imagined, my parents were mean ogres, and that I should avoid my family. She wouldn't discuss my current issues (crisises, really), and dismissed the fact that before a crisis a while ago, I was actually functioning fine for a long while. I left sessions feeling awful. I once also joined a dbt group that I liked- except that they were so rigid that if I couldn't come to the group at a particular, very inconvienient hour- it meant I wasn't commited to therapy. Once, they chastised me for visiting with good friends who were in briefly from out of town instead of going to group where we were at the time talking about being isolated and having no friends. To me, this made no sense- why discuss being isolated while passing up a special opportunity to visit with dear old friends who were in town for just a few hours??I really liked the dbt style, though, because it was very practical and focused on improving my current behaviors. I'm not keen on starting another endless round of psychodynamic therapy, and am suspicious that CBT won't work adequately for me- because my problems right now are too severe, complicated, and dysfunctional to be quickly mopped up by the type of easy, almost magical postive thinking endorsed by the highly recommended person I tried. CBT might work better for other people.
I've looked at listings on various hospital and university sites, but there are so many, I am beside myself over how to choose.
I am open to suggestions, and do believe that a wise and skilled person, no matter what sort of therapy they practice, could end up being the right one. Thank you.
poster:laima
thread:668240
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20060703/msgs/668240.html