Anonymous wrote:Seems like my teen only uses it as a venting session. Not sure I see any change.

I'd be on the phone with that therapist (or their supervisory therapist, if there is one) about this ASAP. Who can afford the time and money for this?

Both of my kids have found significant help with great therapists BUT we went through a number of bad therapists to find them. Sadly lots of the better experienced therapists do not take insurance. My advise is to interview and vet therapists carefully. There are great therapists out there!

I have a tween and a younger DD. The younger one struggled with nightmares and trouble sleeping through the night (she’s 7). After only a few months of once a week therapy she stayed in her bed! But we’ve stopped therapy having reached that goal and it’s backslid a bit.

Anonymous wrote:My husband and I spent a ton of money on quack therapists (both of which did unethical things) only to come out worse on the other side. Finally realized the therapists were toxic so we ditched them and we are doing much better!

Agree with you OP that they aren't a magic bullet. Like any career, it has some who are good at their job but many who are bad at their job.

+1
So many bad sham therapists out there.
Sorry for what you went through.

I worked for a child and adolescent psychology practice years before I had kids. I learned a lot from them. My kid had anger issues at the peak of lockdown. I had him work with a therapist specifically on handling emotions, specifically anger. When you go into therapy, you need specific goals. It took about 3 months. I didn’t want therapy to be “paying for a friend to listen to problems” or to substitute bad/inconsistent parenting, which is what a lot of therapy turns into from my experience. My kid hasn’t had any issues since his time in therapy.

Another where therapy wasn’t helpful. I’m glad some kids are successful. I just don’t happen to know any of them.

16:37 and we end up later helping our kid buy a used car and justified it to each other since we were saving with not paying for therapy anymore. We didn’t tell our son that.

It was better than any therapist and he spends so much time working on it, detailing it, cleaning it and can drive himself to a job. I’m not telling you to buy your kid a car but sometimes therapy money is better spent elsewhere.

Success story but after stopping therapy. We tried many over the course of 8 years. We kept looking for the “good fit” and I don’t want to think about how much we spent. We mad the conscious decision to stop it all a while back and our kid has actually been better. He said he always found it stressful and not helpful.

No success story here at all. Made it worse. So many therapists want online now and it’s terrible.

Kid had significant anxiety after doing about 10 hrs of driving. Flat out refused due to anxiety of other drivers. 9 months of therapy and he started driving. He still doesn't love it, but will drive (got his license.)

She had him do some desensitization at first (sitting in the drivers seat car off/then on, then driving in a parking lot again like we did in the beginning for just a couple of minutes, then gradually increase time and intensity. This is actually what we were having him do (I am a therapist) - but having it come from someone other than his mom was helpful.

He has also talked to his therapist about relationship issues. He says it was helpful.

As a therapist, I am EXTREMELY concerned about some of the folks out there doing therapy. Yes, they have licensure, but very little experience. It took me a LONG time to find someone with significant experience....and experience with teens....that had availability.

My husband and I spent a ton of money on quack therapists (both of which did unethical things) only to come out worse on the other side. Finally realized the therapists were toxic so we ditched them and we are doing much better!

Agree with you OP that they aren't a magic bullet. Like any career, it has some who are good at their job but many who are bad at their job.

Anonymous wrote:I agree. I don’t think therapy is the answer to everything. Seems like my teen only uses it as a venting session. Not sure I see any change. Therapists are just out there to make money and most are just not very good. Just quacks.

This was true for me. I was a big therapy cheerleader because it feels great to vent everything but therapists are human and should not be assumed to have standards, ethics or basic morals just because they say so. Trust your intuition, not the therapist, and don't get so comfortable.

My teen had very successful DBT therapy. He learned useful skills, coping mechanisms, and it was good for him during a stressful time.

Talk therapy wasn't as successful and we did have to fire 2 therapists before we found one that worked.

I agree. I don’t think therapy is the answer to everything. Seems like my teen only uses it as a venting session. Not sure I see any change. Therapists are just out there to make money and most are just not very good. Just quacks.

Whenever there’s an emotional or mental problem, people immediately advise therapy, as if it were a magical potion that can rectify every issue. Unfortunately, that hasn’t been my experience. I would appreciate any success stories, or difficult stories, or any moral support whatsoever. Difficult day…