Hello,

Lately I have been overwhelmed with my schedule, finances and social life. I am always trying to improve my mental health. With all of this stress I am considering therapy, mainly for someone to talk, to process all my thoughts, and maybe help me develop ideas or come up with strategies to cope better. I have ADHD, Autism, and some other things if that helps anyone relate.

I have three main questions:

Has therapy helped you enough to be worth the time?

Is it very difficult to find a therapist you mesh with?

How do I find a therapist? From a doctor’s referral? Online service? Through insurance? (I live in the United States.)

Any experience or advice you can provide would be greatly appreciated!

Edit: I just wanted to thank everyone for your help and support! I hope everyone is doing well and has seen positive changes. And I hope all these replies help other people besides myself. I’m feeling more positive and hopeful toward finding the right therapist. Your kindness is appreciated!

  • @[email protected]OP
    3•1 year ago

    Thank you for such a thorough response!

    I’m glad you mentioned a couple different methods therapists might use. I didn’t think of looking for traits that could be categorized, and I agree that I would probably also benefit more from CBT type therapy where I have some tool to implement daily.

    I didn’t think about religion as a factor. I am not religious and I do feel it would be unhelpful to add that into the discussion as it might complicate an already long list of thoughts I have. That is a great suggestion.

    All these specifics are really helping me form a picture of what types of therapists may be available.

    Thank you so much for your help!

    • Chetzemoka
      4•1 year ago

      I just wanted to add on to this great advice, because your specifically asked if it was worth it. The things I learned from Cognitive Behavior Therapy more than 20 years ago have stuck with me all my life and prevented me from falling back into old, toxic patterns of thinking.

      So yes, for me at least it was definitely worth it.

      • @[email protected]OP
        2•1 year ago

        That’s great to hear! I definitely think CBT is something I want to focus on so I have more tools in my toolbox.

    • @[email protected]
      1•1 year ago

      Sure thing!

      For what it’s worth, if you tell a therapist you’re not religious/not interested in pursuing that it should be respected. It’s just a topic I’ve had a lot of issues with before so I usually ask if they follow “an evidence-based approach” up front, which I’ve had good luck with.

      The best therapist I had was very religious herself and had a large cross tattoo, but respected my lack of belief and only brought up religion as it related to the issues I was working through.

      So not a dealbreaker but just something I personally look for :) most I’ve seen are fine working with both religious and non-religious people.

      • @[email protected]OP
        1•1 year ago

        Thanks for clarifying! I’m glad I know now that it’s something they will take into account, and I like that you figured out what to ask them specifically about their methodologies.

        That’s great to hear that many seem to be respectful of boundaries and preferences. I’m glad you found a good one!