I went and finally got up the nerve to try two different counselors and it did not work out at all. The first one was a psychiatrist who told me that he would not see me unless I commited to a "treatment contract" of drug/alcohol evaluation (by someone else), enrollment in a 12 step program and/or agreement to random drug testing (which he stated I would have to go have immediately after my appt to have). He also could not tell me this during my first appt, I had to come back for a second appt to hear it (and pay another $200). Oh, lest I forget, he offered the suggestion of cutting down on carbs to help with stress!
The second one was a LCSW who was totally nice, but also very bizarre. We spent a seemingly endless amount of time with him trying to contact my subconcious through questioning it and watching my fingers move (when he asked if I was relaxed and I said that I was kind of relaxed he told me to 'smoke more pot' (in my mind but I was really taken aback at first after he said that). That was pretty much the funniest part of this whole thing. After about an hour and a half I said I really had to go. While I very much thought he was very nice and appreciated him being so generous with his time I did not feel like there was much potential in this Erickson hypno-psycho therapy.
So, all in all this was a totally bizarre experience trying to find a therapist and I think I am going to throw in the towel! I can't help but laugh about all of this though.
The second one was a LCSW who was totally nice, but also very bizarre. We spent a seemingly endless amount of time with him trying to contact my subconcious through questioning it and watching my fingers move (when he asked if I was relaxed and I said that I was kind of relaxed he told me to 'smoke more pot' (in my mind but I was really taken aback at first after he said that). That was pretty much the funniest part of this whole thing. After about an hour and a half I said I really had to go. While I very much thought he was very nice and appreciated him being so generous with his time I did not feel like there was much potential in this Erickson hypno-psycho therapy.
So, all in all this was a totally bizarre experience trying to find a therapist and I think I am going to throw in the towel! I can't help but laugh about all of this though.