Reply to Therapy is just so expensive

Forum Index » Health and Medicine

Reply to "Therapy is just so expensive"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My insurance has zero out of network coverage for therapists. I've now tried in-network therapists but they just aren't great. I can't find one with more than 5 years of experience and one of the ones I saw actually broke confidentiality (she would tell me all about her other patients and I'm guess would tell them about me). It seems like once a therapist is more seasoned, they stop taking insurance because they don't have to.

I have gotten several recommendations for good therapists but none of them take insurance. I can find someone for less than $200 a session if I take a newer therapist who is being supervised. And you can find therapists for under $100 per session if you are willing to take an intern. But an experienced therapist is at least $200 for a 50 minute session, often more. And based on my experience, I am just not sure it's worth it to see someone who isn't pretty experienced. I have childhood trauma and PTSD, I know my issues are complex and challenging. That's why I want therapy. But I'm not dealing with situational depression for a job loss or a someone who was mentally healthy my whole life and then needs help getting through grief. I have capital "I" Issues.

It just feels like it's only for wealthy people. Spending $800-1000 a month on therapist means I'm basically saving nothing except a retirement contribution -- nothing for my kid's college fund, no other savings or investments beyond my existing 401k contribution. That seems irresponsible. And I don't even know if it will help yet.

Just venting, I guess. I think therapy could help me but the kind of therapy I can afford seems minimally helpful. I guess my current plan is if my parents leave me any money when they pass, maybe I will spend it on therapy to help me process what happened in our family when I was young. I know that sounds morbid. But it seems like that might be the only way I can ever afford to do this (and even then I know I'll feel bad spending that sort of money on my own therapy instead of using it to help my kid or pay down or mortgage). [/quote]

I think it would be worth it for you to find a good therapist, and pay out of pocket for some period of time. E.g., maybe for the first month you see someone once a week, but then you move to 2x/month for a few months, and then maybe once every 3 weeks or once a month for a check in. A good therapist who uses CBT for PTSD can get you started on this and help you help yourself as you move forward. A lot of the CBT work is stuff you practice on your own. I don't think you need to think about therapy as something that goes on forever and prevents you from saving for college or anything else. It can be a short-term investment that can have long-term payoff.

IMO, it's worth a try. I don't think you should think of it as robbing your child of something. In many circumstances, a mom who is more at peace is also a gift to her kids.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics