Question 1

What are you doing about Covid? Do you offer telehealth?

Accepted Answer

My practice is all in person. This is solely based on how doing therapy is most effective for me. I keep hepa filtration running in the office, am tested regularly, and live cautiously. Masks must be worn in the building coming to therapy, in the office with the door closed we can decide together whether to use masks-if anyone wants them they will be worn. Additionally, all of my clients must be fully vaccinated and agree not to come in if they have symptoms-I do telehealth for short periods for reasons of illness or other contingencies, but not as a standard way of offering therapy.

Question 2

What is therapy?

Accepted Answer

I came from a family that "didn't believe in mental illness" or therapy. If you did too, coming in to therapy can be overwhelming or just seem useless. Here's the thing, our brains are organs that can have problems just like any other part of the body. We can change things in the brain with medications, shocks or surgery. But we can also change the brain by working with the mind-that is what a person thinks and feels. A therapist pays attention to patterns that indicate problems in the brain and helps to fix them. Here are some ways that can look:
 
Identifying repetitive false thoughts that are harmful
Understanding where patterns come from and deciding if you want to keep and pass them
Learn to feel your feelings instead of thinking your feelings
Understand the purpose of a behavior and decide if you want to keep it
Learn new ideas and behaviors
Practice feeling emotions, new skills, hard conversations, whatever you are working on learning
Understanding the mental illness you have so can can better adapt and connect
There are many different types of therapy, and many different therapists, if you don't like the first one, keep trying!

Question 3

Can I tell my therapist I hate what we are doing? Or I don't understand it?

Accepted Answer

Yes, yes, one thousand times yes. You can tell the therapist you don't like any part of the therapy. Asking questions and giving feedback about your experience is helpful to building the relationship, making necessary changes, and giving therapy the best chance of working. This is hard to do for most people, but therapy is the perfect place to practice!

Question 4

Can I switch therapists? Do therapists all do the same things?

Accepted Answer

You can, and you should if you are not happy with the care you are getting. Mental health therapist can have very different theories, practices and styles. I have needed different therapists at different times in my life. At first I wanted someone to listen and not challenge me, I just needed to be heard and reinforced. Later, I wanted someone very clinical who could describe mental illness thoroughly and the choices for dealing with it. Now, I appreciate therapists who are challenging and support growth. Find someone who is a good match for you, where you are now. Ask questions.

Question 5

What is a level of care? What level of care are you?

Accepted Answer

Level of Care is indicated by the place of care, type of mental health care, frequency of care and necessity of immediate intervention. See below for the levels. The setting of an individual mental health practice (that is me)  can only deal with the lowest level of care-one person cannot be responsive at all times and cannot provide not wrap around services like psychiatry (meds), case management (help with day to day activities), links to medicaid, shelters, housing, food, etc. These are vital services for many folks and are offered most comprehensively in Community Mental Health. 
Level of Care Highest to Lowest: (By each one I put a Cbus rec)
Inpatient-Dublin Springs or Harding
Partial Hospitalization Program-Dublin Springs or Harding
Intensive Outpatient-Riverside
Outpatient with wrap around Services, Groups, Someone on Call-North Community Counseling
Single Provider Outpatient-Me! and many many others...

Question 6

What will happen if I go to a mental hospital? Which ones do you recommend?

Accepted Answer

Going to a mental hospital is often a stressful event, knowing what to expect can help. Each one is different, some are fancy, some are rough. Sometimes they make you go through the ER-so they can rule out any medical causes of mental distress, especially with things like psychosis. Once you are in the mental hospital you generally wait around a lot-wait to be seen for intake (where someone asks you questions and figures out what you need), wait to be admitted, wait to have a room assigned. They will take your stuff that is "dangerous", including things you might not expect like shoe laces and things for privacy reasons like phones. There are phones there you can use. Some places have individual rooms, but usually you share with one person. There is a public space you can go in to watch television, or play games. Sometimes there are group activities. It can be boring and disorienting and while you are there you generally can make few choices. What they can do is keep you relatively safe while they give you drugs to stabilize your mind. And that is a big thing.
 
In Columbus I recommend Columbus Springs, Dublin Springs and Harding (OSU).
 
It is a more pleasant experience if you...
assume they are trying to help, even though the system is far from perfect
cooperate
have a book or something to do
use the time to rest and have a break from the chaos
decide to be amused instead of irritated
 
Of course, it's hard to do those things when you're not feeling great to begin with. When you get out, get to counseling, find someone you trust. It is a hard transition-deciding you cannot trust your mind, and then figuring out how to trust it again.

ancient toad counseling

"pretty is not the point"

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