Depression Support

I've met with my current therapist 3-4 times now.  After meeting with him this last time, I've been thinking of asking for a reference to another therapist at the same practice.  I feel like my therapist treats me younger than I am (his mannerisms make me think he counsels a lot of teens/pre-teens); he leaves things very open-ended, and I'd like to work with a therapist who's a bit more of a leader in the session; and I just don't believe him with his encouragements ("you're doing a great job," "I'm proud of you") - it seems fake.

What I can't decide is whether I'm sabotaging myself and my therapy by thinking about this (I did recently have a little breakthrough in therapy) or if I really would work better with another therapist.

Could anyone give me some feedback?  What kinds of things have you considered when thinking about changing therapists?

Thanks!

I am new to this board but have dealt with depressiona and therapists off and on for several years.  I would encourage you to ask yourself a few questions:

Why did you choose this particular therapist in the first place?

Is there a specific trauma or issue that you want help with?  For instance, in my younger years, I needed to deal with childhood abuse so I was referred to someone that worked primarily with abused children.  Yes she dealt with children usually but the problem was similar and it turned out ok.  At another point in my life, I was trying to deal with the stress of a troubled teen.  So I saw a therapist that primarily worked with troubled teens (mine refused to go).  She helped me learn alternative ways to deal with my troubled teen.  If there is a specific area of trouble, find a counselor that works in that area.

What type of treatment do you think you would respond to best?  I don't know alot about the different types. But I know there are several.  You might want to look into this and try to find someone in that area.

You might just talk to your therapist about your feelings and how he talks to you.  It may be that he does in fact work with children/teens and just doesn't realize he's doing this.  Once he does, he can try to work on it.

Good luck and I hope I've given you some things to consider.

Lia

All I can tell you is that I have been in long-term therapy (over one year) three times, and the first two times were unsuccessful and I untimately just left.  One of the therapists had serious problems herself, and the other one could only keep saying "How do you feel about that?"  The therapist I have now is great, and I am in the process of slowly tapering off because I am better able to deal with my life.  Therapists are only human beings like the rest of us, so it may be very likely that you haven't "clicked" with him.  Four visits are definitely enough time to decide if you are comfortable or not.  People change therapists all the time so be honest and tell him how you feel.  A professional therapist won't take it personally.

Best of luck,

Deb