Well... i started seeing a psychotherapist at the end of july. When i first went to him i thought " yes, this is going to get me over my anxiety" He gave me choice between CBT and hypnosis. I didn't buy the whole idea of hypnosis, and figured somebody as nervous as me can't be hypnotized. Well after about 5 sessions i realized that i can't be. He kept saying though " ohhh you seem so much better than the first day, blah blah, stick with it" I told him i'd rather try the CBT so we switched to that the other day.
NOW this is what i don't get, first day i was there he told me the CBT was cheaper than the hypnosis ( 50 bucks cheaper) which is way too much money for once a week! but thats how often he wants me to go! he is out of network, so my insurance don't cover it. He filled out paper work for me that i FINALLY got, to see if my insurance will still give me some money back. Well i got the peperwork the other day... and almost all my info, that i wrote perfectly on a piece of paper was wrong! he somehow wrote my B-day as 10/09 LOL and for the year wrote 1108 !!!! what the heck? my phone number was wrong, AND my address! HOW could they mail that to me with all those spelling errors? it's like he doesn't want me to get my money back lol. Does he expect me to mail this to my insurance company?
Back on the topic of CBT, it's just me and HIM! what good is that going to do? i thought CBT is a group therapy session with other people who also have anxiety? he said we wont be doing any "implosion therapy" as he called it, like going out in public and overcoming my fears. Just me talking to him ain't going to help my anxiety AT ALL. I really think i should stop seeing this guy, and see about finding someone in my insurance network, cause for $175 for a measley half hour of talking is not going to help me. I'd rather see a psychiatrist and just go back on medication. Talking to somebody is not going to change the chemical imbalance in my brain. If i was to do CBT i want to do it with other people! Oh and he told me on day 1 that CBT is cheaper, then when i asked i figured to act like i forgot and didn't know how much it was, so i decided to say " CBT is the same price as the hypnosis right" and he said "sure, i may actually charge you cheaper though" LOL what happened to it being 50 bucks cheaper?
Should i just call this guy and say i can't see him anymore cause of the money issue? I mean i really like the guy, but it's not a matter of liking him or not, it's a matter of me getting better.
I think that's one thing I was grateful for, when I went to my first psychologist. I liked her, and she really seemed to care and want to help me get better. Some of her tactics I questioned at first, but I committed myself to sticking with them, and they did seem to help me out.
As you said, it's about you getting better. In the end, that's what it comes down to. If you like a person, but they aren't helping you get better, you have to find someone else who can, because that's what it's all about.
Hi, Lourage . . . I would not be able to have a therapeutic relationship with someone who cannot keep their stories straight or even give accurate information on a form. How is he supposed to give you decent help with your problem?
Yes, telling him that money is an issue is a polite way to back out of it. I hope you can find someone reliable. I have been lucky in the past to find therapists who were very straight forward and very efficient.
He might be a very nice guy but unfortunately he is not being paid to just be nice.
Yea guys, don't get me wrong ,deep down I'm sure he wants me to get better, he even said if by the end if i still don't feel right he would give me a referral to his psych he knows and i wont even have to wait for an appointment he would get me right in and i can get medicine. We wanted to do the whole "lets try this without medication" But after reading on here how some people been doing CBT for over 2 YEARS, i can't wait that long, and keep having my BP spiking for that long.
I think a medication with CBT approach would be better for me. I used to have panic attacks even when i was like 7! started with walking in crowds. I'm such a pessimist though, and i don't and never bought into the whole therapy thing. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure it helps so many people, but i don't see how i can talk anxiety away with someone, especially without doing activities to overcome those fears. But laying down and having thoughts penetrate my subconscious/unconscious mind? LOL i was never even unconscious! i was wide awake during every hypnosis session! then he wanted me to do deep breathing at home, but get this, he didn't want me to listen to any other CBT or hypnosis tapes online!!! he said just lay in bed, and give myself the thoughts that he gave me... LOL what? If he couldn't hypnotize, me, how would i hypnotize myself just laying in bed breathing deep? i always breath deep! thats how we are SUPPOSED to breathe as humans, with our belly! I always breathe like that! It doesn't calm me down. He even told me to stay away from sites like this and that 95% of stuff on the internet is BS.
I'm calling him tomorrow and will tell him i can't afford to see him anymore, which is TRUE! but all the other stuff is the icing on the cake! Knowing him thought he seems like the type of guy who will try to keep all his clients, like he will bring up seeing him every other week or something.
or maybe it's just me, and i'm old fashioned... i mean can you blame me? being born in the year 1108 and all. LOL i can't believe he mailed me that paperwork with all those errors!
Last edited by ms_mod; 09-12-2008 at 06:37 PM.
Reason: Removed banned word. If a word comes up like this *** in your post that word is banned on this website. Ms_Mod
I should make another topic with this question, since it has nothing to do with this, but i don't want to flood the board, plus i just made one so i will ask in here.
What would be the next logical medication to try? I started with lexapro, highest i went was 20 or 25 mg's i forget what it was. Then after a few months of not feeling any different i was switched to paxil, CR 25. Did nothing for my anxiety, i mean helped a little i guess, but i was still afraid to leave the house, so i don't count that as helping. After that i tried a beta blocker called atenolol, like 25 mgs. And i onyl took it before anxious events. That didn't work, then i tried xanax , the lowest dose, i felt exactly the same while on it, no change. I was told to try taking another one, i got up to 3 and still nothing, and i didn't want to finally find what dose worked by taking too many and going into a coma, so i'll told my doc try something. last benzo i tried klonopin 25 mg,s that also did nothing lol. That was around a year and half ago, maybe two an di haven't' been on anything since, well know i'm on lopressor , and all that does for my anxiety is stop my heart from racing, my BP still spikes and my face still turns red, so i consider it another failure for me.
So now what? Do i have to start thinking about the higher medications? are SSRis going to be a bust for me, since those two didn't help? or could it just been the dosage that was wrong? or maybe i need something else while taking one? I'm not worried about any side effects at this point, plus i have ahd a GREAT track record with everything i tried! NO side effects at all! well the SSRI i felt weird the first few days taking it, but that went away. Plus even if i had a bad side effect, i'd rather have the medication side effect over the side effects i get from my anxiety such as, facial blushing, rapid heart beat, BP spikes, no sleep, panic attacks, insomnia and so on!
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