I'm new to healthboards, and I recently visited a therapist at campus health where I go to college. I've had a lot of past issues with an abusive stepfather, and it's starting to seriously affect my day-to-day functioning. I'm not really able to pay attention in classes, and I just feel very fuzzy and detached all the time. Also, I've started to get these panic attacks where I will shake uncontrollably and it feels like everything around is unreal. I talked to the therapist about this, and he said that I need to be put in touch with a therapist out in the community (i can only see someone for eight sessions at campus health) because I need someone i can do a lot of long-term work with. The trouble is, the way insurance in the US works, is that I won't be able to get the therapy without my stepdad finding out, because the doctor's office would file a claim with the insurance company, who would in turn send paperwork to my parents. So unless some doctor decides to take me on out of sheer kindness, I'm screwed.
I'm not really sure what I' m looking for here, maybe advice? Support? I really don't know.
Are you saying your stepdad won't allow you to go to a therapist for any reason? or what?....he doesn't need to know why you are going in fact that is confidential information. If he thinks he needs to know then make something up like... tell him the school counselor recommended it since you have some strange reaction to going to school or some such thing. The insurance company isn't allowed to submit to your parents the details. Good luck.
Yeah, say it is for being able to decrease anxiety for presentations or something for school. If you ever want to talk more about your issues just let us know.
Well, the thing is he's radically against all therapy (which is ironic considering that I am studying psychology). In high school I told him that I thought I was struggling with depression and that maybe I should see a therapist, and his response was that I was not getting enough exercise or sleep, and he forbid me to go anywhere except for school and rehearsals and forced me to go to bed ridiculously early every night and start jogging (in spite of the fact that I have scoliosis and running is very bad for me, plus I was in a theatre group (another point of contention between the two of us) that engaged in a lot of dance and other physical activity, so it's not like I was completely sedentary). If I were to tell him that I was seeing a therapist for anxiety issues relating to school, he would just tell me that the stress of living away from home is too much and that I can't handle it and that I should switch to a school where I can live at home, which would not only be awful, but limit the possibilities for my education as well, as the university in my hometown is not a very good one. So I'm really between a rock and a hard place here, and I'm just not sure about what I should do.
