Posted by octopusprime on September 2, 2005, at 13:03:58
hi, long time listener, first time caller (on this board, anyway :-)
me: 26 year old newlywed who moved to the US from Canada 8 months ago for a job. a bad performance review at work prompted me to call the employee assistance program (EAP). i feel the bad review is unjustified. they gave my coworker a bad review and are pushing her out of the team. the review i got was similar to the one she got last year, so i feel i am next to be pushed off the team. considering finding another job in [big co] or moving back to canada [which would please husband].
me continued: cyclothymia (mild bipolar) dxed last year, on and off mental health treatment for five years now, no counseling since 2002, medicated mildly (antidepressant and antipsychotic) managed by MD. parents are married to each other still and no history of abuse. addiction not a current concern (although i have gained weight). complicating factor: we were considering trying for a baby very soon before this review and related instability.
my goals: to help me decide whether i should stay at my job or go back to canada. i tend to run away and do something different in times of struggle. this impulse is something i need to learn to deal with. i have given myself a 4 month deadline for deciding whether or not i should return to canada and save my husband the immigration struggle. i can continue to go to work and search for jobs in [big co], but workplace is toxic and i need support.
him: doctoral student in clinical psych. licensed counselor in state. has MA. his write up talks a lot about the unconscious and alienated parts of self in collective psyche and dreams and fantasies and personal history and mythology. so more of the classic freudian stuff. he is a children's mental health specialist so office has sandbox and toys, this appeals to me somehow.
the first session (free, covered by EAP): i talk talk talk talk talk. he asks one billion questions. symptoms. personal history. medical history. relationships with family. social support with friends. etc. i tell him goals above. he says "i have some ideas about how to proceed. the first month will feel kind of vague. i think i can help you find some clarity in the time frame you propose"
oh babble matchmakers: do we have a match? i felt comfortable talking to him and communicating my needs and reasons for counseling at this time. i was somewhat surprised that i was matched with somebody considered a freudian - i thought everybody was CBT these days? anyway, i am comfortable talking to the dude but i am not super keen on vagueness. i am wondering if it is worth interviewing another T (with a CBT bend) if i basically think the guy i talked to is ok, if not necessarily clinically oriented in the way i think i need. i am willing to talk to him mercilessly about my goals of therapy and do not want to stay there forever. i have 30 sessions in my insurance and would like to drive to resolution of current crisis with some overall mood management techniques in those sessions and then terminate. however, i am busy busy busy these days and also not inclined to interview several potential T's of various clinical bends to help tend to a short term and immediate crisis (which of course is rooted in some of my longer-term problems).
what do you think: match or no match? how important is the stated clinical bend of the counselor if a client can articulate the goals of her therapy? and is therapy vague for the first four sessions or so by definition?
poster:octopusprime
thread:549953
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20050901/msgs/549953.html