I am in counseling now!

Post Reply New Topic

I am in counseling. I found and met with a therapist I really like and feel optimistic about and we have our first official session on Tuesday!

Are there any aspie specific issues I need to cover with her?

That is something only you can know GreyGhost.

That's good! Keep us posting with how you're doing!

My experience is that it's a loooong process. I've been doing this for over a year now, and it helps, but it's very much an ongoing process - don't expect anything to be resolved.

Resolved? There is no resolution in therapy. You don't make a steady living curing people. You make money by 'guiding them through that never-ending process'. It's a metaphysical thing, like bringing them messages from dead relatives, or teaching seminars on how positive thinking will bring miracles into their lives.

Be careful - therapists have no trouble giving advice, but when you take it and it blows up in your face, they will not be there to help you fix the resultant BS storm.

They will, however, happily accept payment to sit and listen to you externalize your pain.

If a therapist is doing this, then they're not doing their job properly. I consider them to be in the same basket as doctors/physicians/etc. - their job is to help you get better. I would not consider a dietitian doing their job if they were encouraging people to overeat (more fat people = profit!), or even just handing out useless advice, nor would I consider a psychologist to be doing their job if they were just perpetually looping back onto old issues. Actually, I'm pretty sure if a psychologist was to be found doing that, they would lose their membership in whatever national psychological society is applicable.

Even if you've had bad experiences with theapists, don't make the judgment that all therapists are bad.

Therapists are not psychologists.

That's true. The major difference between therapists and psychologists is that a psychologist has a PhD is Psychology and a therapist can have a degree in a variety of disciplines ( social work, counseling...) and some may in fact have a PhD.

As far as treatment ethics go, it is the same for both.