Social Anxiety Support

aloss4words · 07-22-2009, 08:17 PM

I hate it when therapists ask you "what do you think would be helpful to talk about?" It is like isn't that your job to figure out? Of course I don't say that but I think it. It does feel awkward with my current therapist. I am not sure why. Maybe it is because I am not sure if she knows what she is doing. I go to college and the whole time she just talked about the same things of how not many people go here during the summer and there are not a lot of clubs or things to do. I know that already. I am sick of these college therapists pushing the idea of joining clubs. I have heard it enough already. Why don't they actually do therapy? If I wanted to find out about clubs, I would look on the university website and it would not require going to a therapist. If this situation doesn't improve I might have to switch therapists again. But I just hate repeating the same information over and over.

jaayhou · 07-23-2009, 01:14 PM

My girlfriend is a therapist. That's actually one of the techniques they teach--ask questions and let the client guide the session. My theory is that some people just aren't very introspective and haven't asked themselves some of these questions. By prompting clients to explore these new paths, they may come to conclusions on their own. Honestly, anyone who uses this technique on me is wasting my time.

Remember that therapists are people too. Unfortunately, they don't have a supernatural ability to uncover your problems and craft perfect solutions. It takes a lot of work from both parties.

Some therapists are better than others, and some are certainly better for you than others. Give it a few sessions with one, then find another if you're not making a connection. A good therapist should be able to recognize this, which should prompt them to refer you to someone else anyway. You may just have to keep looking. Yeah, each therapist may initially have the same old bag of tricks, but hopefully you'll eventually get something useful.

arthur56 · 07-23-2009, 03:55 PM

if you find socialising difficult you could ask for some roleplaying, that is practise at socialising

in my long experience, many are drawn to psychology by their own psychological problems, they study psychology to get a carear and to hopefully fix their own problems, some do but many dont
for example I know one psychologist who specialises in anxiety and panic attacks because she had these problems, problem is she still has them, she couldnt cure herself and is now saying she can cure others

07-22-2009, 08:17 PM	#1 (permalink)
aloss4words Status: SAS Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Gender: Female Posts: 372	Feelings of awkwardness I hate it when therapists ask you "what do you think would be helpful to talk about?" It is like isn't that your job to figure out? Of course I don't say that but I think it. It does feel awkward with my current therapist. I am not sure why. Maybe it is because I am not sure if she knows what she is doing. I go to college and the whole time she just talked about the same things of how not many people go here during the summer and there are not a lot of clubs or things to do. I know that already. I am sick of these college therapists pushing the idea of joining clubs. I have heard it enough already. Why don't they actually do therapy? If I wanted to find out about clubs, I would look on the university website and it would not require going to a therapist. If this situation doesn't improve I might have to switch therapists again. But I just hate repeating the same information over and over.

07-23-2009, 03:55 PM	#3 (permalink)
arthur56 Status: SAS Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: melbourne australia Posts: 1,734	if you find socialising difficult you could ask for some roleplaying, that is practise at socialising in my long experience, many are drawn to psychology by their own psychological problems, they study psychology to get a carear and to hopefully fix their own problems, some do but many dont for example I know one psychologist who specialises in anxiety and panic attacks because she had these problems, problem is she still has them, she couldnt cure herself and is now saying she can cure others __________________ life is not a dress rehersal

07-23-2009, 01:14 PM	#2 (permalink)
jaayhou Status: SAS Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 418	My girlfriend is a therapist. That's actually one of the techniques they teach--ask questions and let the client guide the session. My theory is that some people just aren't very introspective and haven't asked themselves some of these questions. By prompting clients to explore these new paths, they may come to conclusions on their own. Honestly, anyone who uses this technique on me is wasting my time. Remember that therapists are people too. Unfortunately, they don't have a supernatural ability to uncover your problems and craft perfect solutions. It takes a lot of work from both parties. Some therapists are better than others, and some are certainly better for you than others. Give it a few sessions with one, then find another if you're not making a connection. A good therapist should be able to recognize this, which should prompt them to refer you to someone else anyway. You may just have to keep looking. Yeah, each therapist may initially have the same old bag of tricks, but hopefully you'll eventually get something useful.