Posted by anovagrrl on January 27, 2004 at 07:53:34
In Reply to: I started seeing a therapist posted by Annoni Mouse on January 23, 2004 at 19:01:22:
Great decision! Since you're paying for this yourself, I hope you won't mind a bit of advice about how to get the most bang for your bucks.
Therapists often set treatment goals with their clients that read something like this: "Annoni will work on resolution of past trauma and/or of past interpersonal conflicts."
The problem with such a treatment goal is this: How will you know when you've successfully resolved a past trauma or interpersonal conflict? You could spend years and thousands of dollars trying to achieve these vague, elusive goals.
You are obviously in enough current pain/discomfort that despite the cost, you are willing to undergo treatment. What is it you want to change about your current condition? What exactly are your symptoms? Lack of sleep, irritability, inner turmoil, unhappiness?
Let's say you're tied in knots 70% of the time. If that's the case, your treatment goal would be: "Annoni's feelings of inner turmoil will decrease by 40% within 6 months." How much (30%? 50%?) and how long (6 months, 9 months, etc.) is up to you to determine with your therapist.
Setting a measurable outcome will tell you how well you are progressing in treatment. Believe me, when you see the bills start to mount and you find yourself (sometimes) feeling much worse immediately following a treatment session or dreading going to therapy, you will be glad you & the therapist set some measurable goals related to your current condition. Then you can say, "Yeah, I feel like pure crap today, but I've improved 25% over what I was feeling three months ago."