Seeing your psychiatrist/therapist/counsellor regularly?

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I'm just wondering whether or not people with Asperger see their doctor/psychiatirst/psychologist/therapist/counsellor on a regular basis?
If so, how often and how long are your sessions?
What do you talk about in general?
Which of the professionals mentioned above is best to approach to talk about your concerns and/or have a chat with?
Do they give you practical advice?
Thanks in advance for any input.

I see a psychologist once a week for an hour or two, for a few years, but work wants to give me training to deal with ppl, so that should be interesting

A counselor, at school, an hour a week. She helps me with organization, planning, and figuring out schedules; and we talk about the problems I have with perfectionism and the way I tend to believe that I have to constantly prove myself, and that I'm secretly a lazy, immature brat... None of those things are particularly logical but when you hear them your whole life they don't go away very quickly.

I saw a counselor once a week, from the time that I started high school, until the time that I graduated.

I'm just wondering whether or not people with Asperger see their doctor/psychiatirst/psychologist/therapist/counsellor on a regular basis? I see a counsellor.
If so, how often and how long are your sessions? Once every two weeks for an hour.
What do you talk about in general? My past. AS related problems. Anxiety.
Which of the professionals mentioned above is best to approach to talk about your concerns and/or have a chat with? My counsellor.
Do they give you practical advice? Yes, about how to deal with situations that I'm anxious about and how to change my thoughts to more positive ones when they are negative.

I also see a psychiatrist once a month for medication reviews.

1. I do
2. 15 minute for psychiatrist every 3 months, 45 minutes every week for therapist
3. Meds with psych, general chit-chat and AS-related stuff with therapist
4. Therapist or Counselor. Psychiatrists only deal with meds.
5. Usually
6. You're welcome

'bout 5 times in my life, for several years at a time, i would irregularly see my assigned shrink/social worker because i was so disorganized that i was frequently forgetting appointments. if there had been a WRONG PLANET back when i was young, i would have gotten mostly as much benefit from it as i did from my counselors, god-bless 'em. i needed a sounding board, somebody to listen to me or at least let me talk, and that is the function they collectively fulfilled.



the standard 50-minute hour. we would talk about stream-of-consciousness things most of the time, as i seldom had my $#!+ together enough to come to appointments prepared with a listany of despair. so it was despair off the top of my split-level head. about being lonely. about being queer and wishing i could be normal. about being misunderstood by everybody. about being dysfunctional in general. mostly the usual stuff.



all were equally useful, whether they had a PhD or an MSW. i believe that if my present self were cloned and had a shingle, i would have been just as helpful to the past me as they were.



mostly they just listened to me rant and cry. that was sufficient to keep me from going postal. they collectively taught me the value of listening to other people and of being the friend that one wishes one could have.

Do you think you should see a psychiatrist or psychologist / counsellor on a regular schedule?

I came to an Asperger's syndrome diagnosis through psychiatric treatment for depression etc. I had regular appointments daily when I was very ill, weekly after discharge from hospital, then monthly. The way our health service works I don't count as an acute case anymore, and there is no category to provide regular, scheduled appointments. There is no facility for unscheduled consultations - you go to Accident and Emergency if you are suicidal or homicidal, or get referred back to hospital by your family doctor. A lot of people cycle through psychiatric hospital for years, without long term care after discharge, but I think things are getting better.

I think it would be helpful to have a scheduled consultation maybe for a half or one hour every three months. I assume there is a cost-benefit basis because people with Asperger's are more prone to psychiatric illness and so it would have a preventive value.