OK, get this
Wow. That's a REALLY long time.
I am assuming that, based on my professional experience, this is a community agency. Part of the problem is that a lot of private therapists do not (or cannot) take Medicare or Medicaid, so the community agnecies serve most of the people with those and the demand is just really high. The agency that I did my internship with back in 2005 frequently had a several month wait for the psychiatrists at the agency... but not a SIX month wait! (They had enough counseling grad school interns that getting in to see an intern for counseling was not usually a problem... and they didn't give people a choice of seeing an intern or a licensed counselor... you got whoever had an opening... so it was only the psychiatrists who were backed up because they were both part-time).
Any chance there is another agency that is not a horrendous drive from where you are...?
Lora
I am assuming that, based on my professional experience, this is a community agency. Part of the problem is that a lot of private therapists do not (or cannot) take Medicare or Medicaid, so the community agnecies serve most of the people with those and the demand is just really high. The agency that I did my internship with back in 2005 frequently had a several month wait for the psychiatrists at the agency... but not a SIX month wait! (They had enough counseling grad school interns that getting in to see an intern for counseling was not usually a problem... and they didn't give people a choice of seeing an intern or a licensed counselor... you got whoever had an opening... so it was only the psychiatrists who were backed up because they were both part-time).
Any chance there is another agency that is not a horrendous drive from where you are...?
Lora
14 years out; 190 pounds lost, 165 pound loss maintained
You don't drown by falling in the water. You drown by staying there.
Wow. Well, I don't know how big a city you're in, but there are usually income-dependent sliding scale clinics in big cities. One I know of in Houston is tied to the TGLB (however that acronym goes, the gay community). Maybe trying that community you can find someone. From what I know about you someone from that community might be more open-minded in general, and more to your liking.
I will say that I've had the hardest time finding a therapist who made sense for me. One I got from the TGLB community told me a story about finding my best self in a note under a tree buried outside a church in Spain, or something like that. I didn't follow it too well; it got weird.
Another one insisted that I didn't need to drive an hour to get to his office (though I was willing), so we met in a city park. Then one day it was raining, and I was following him all over town to try to find a restaurant he'd tolerate. That was weird, too.
Another one just sorta said, "Hmmm. Interesting" for 6-8 months.
The lady I began going to about 2 months ago is teaching cognitive behavioral changes, and REBT (Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy), and I think I like it. It is very solution-oriented. Very much a way to try to slow down automatic responses so our thinking is more under our control.
How I found her is unusual. I went to a psychiatrist many years ago, but he was just too expensive, so I only went to one session. But in that session we gave me two business cards with questions to ask myself when stressed. I didn't memorize them (as I should have) but I still liked the idea. When I called to make an appt. with him recently, he had just died and she was his therapist business partner. Maybe make an appt. with a psychiatrist, if you haven't already and can afford that, and get a referral from him or her.
Good luck.
I will say that I've had the hardest time finding a therapist who made sense for me. One I got from the TGLB community told me a story about finding my best self in a note under a tree buried outside a church in Spain, or something like that. I didn't follow it too well; it got weird.
Another one insisted that I didn't need to drive an hour to get to his office (though I was willing), so we met in a city park. Then one day it was raining, and I was following him all over town to try to find a restaurant he'd tolerate. That was weird, too.
Another one just sorta said, "Hmmm. Interesting" for 6-8 months.
The lady I began going to about 2 months ago is teaching cognitive behavioral changes, and REBT (Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy), and I think I like it. It is very solution-oriented. Very much a way to try to slow down automatic responses so our thinking is more under our control.
How I found her is unusual. I went to a psychiatrist many years ago, but he was just too expensive, so I only went to one session. But in that session we gave me two business cards with questions to ask myself when stressed. I didn't memorize them (as I should have) but I still liked the idea. When I called to make an appt. with him recently, he had just died and she was his therapist business partner. Maybe make an appt. with a psychiatrist, if you haven't already and can afford that, and get a referral from him or her.
Good luck.
As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we will walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over again the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives. -- Thoreau 
Sounds about like the mental health care in this town....BAD!! I have been going to the local mental health agency and it's a pain in the a$$ to get seen and they can't keep staff so no one knows anything about my case and I can never get any answers. All other psychs in this town are full and noone is taking new patients.
When you're dealing with mental health, waiting until Dec. can be bad news! You need help now, not in 6 months! I wish I knew what to do, short of checking yourself in to the hospital just so you can be seen ASAP. :-(
When you're dealing with mental health, waiting until Dec. can be bad news! You need help now, not in 6 months! I wish I knew what to do, short of checking yourself in to the hospital just so you can be seen ASAP. :-(
"Be present for your journey, get to know who you really are and then be your authentic self with NO apologies"
You can follow my journey at mandaschange.blogspot.com
You can follow my journey at mandaschange.blogspot.com
ToBeAble
on 6/15/11 9:37 am
on 6/15/11 9:37 am
Ugh. So sorry to hear this Kelly.
Others had good suggestions. I'm not sure if this'd help, but years ago I went to a nearby major university that has a PhD psychology program. They have a counseling program on a sliding scale. The therapists are grad students (but they're not first-years -- they have several years under their belts), who are supervised by experienced clinician-teachers. I'm not sure if this would meet your needs, but if there's a university with a similar program not too far away, perhaps that's an option, at least in the short-term.
Best,
Laura
Others had good suggestions. I'm not sure if this'd help, but years ago I went to a nearby major university that has a PhD psychology program. They have a counseling program on a sliding scale. The therapists are grad students (but they're not first-years -- they have several years under their belts), who are supervised by experienced clinician-teachers. I'm not sure if this would meet your needs, but if there's a university with a similar program not too far away, perhaps that's an option, at least in the short-term.
Best,
Laura
RNY 7/30/10 SW 302/CW ~150/First Goal 155 (reached 9/2011)
Extended TT & Medial Thigh Lift 7/16/12. Arms, Butt Lift 2/6/13.
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