Silver, so much has been said since I posted yesterday!

I read that most people enter therapy because they are experiencing some sort of Axis I condition like depression, anxiety etc.

Usually a diagnostic test is done but this is not always the case. Either way though, in time, the therapist, if he/she is good and we are comfortable, the therapist is able to build a relationship with you and through that see how you interact with him/her. What this does is show the therapist how you interact with him/her and how it makes them feel. Likely whatever emotions we evoke in the therapist, we also evoke in others in our personal life.

Therapists are human and they will inevitably encounter all sorts of feelings while working with you such as happiness, sadness, anger etc. They make judgements like we all do. The difference is how do they manage that and ensure their feelings do not interfere with our progress.

How this can interfere with therapy is if the therapist has not worked out their own issues. I believe licensed Psychologists have supervision too which means that they are in therapy of their own regularly. They discuss how they are feeling about their patients' progress, concerns about their own feelings etc.

I chose a licensed Psychologist (PhD) from my health plan that specialized in diagnostic testing and treatment of depression and anxiety.

I did not know at the time what exactly was wrong with me. I thought it was just depression and I was tested for that and Adult ADD. Long story short, this is my true diagnosis but guess what? Because I was finally able to build a relationship with my current T, what is unfolding now is amazing. There is not necessarily an added diagnosis, but he has been able to show me my maladaptive behaviors, thoughts and coping mechanisms that lead to more bad behavior and make me feel worse etc.

I'll go further. For example, ever since the age of 7 years of age, I have pretty much picked at my fingers until they bled. My dad does the same thing. Every doctor, therapist and person in my life growing up saw the condition of my fingers. It was hard to hide but it was never talked about. I was just told it was a bad habit and I'll grow out of it.

Well now I'm 37 and didn't grow out of it. I've learned recently that this is a condition that is part of OCD and it is anxiety based. At first, my T suggested using rubberbands on my wrists and snap them whenever I felt like going near my fingers. That worked for awhile and then that didn't work totally for me because I kept forgetting to put the rubberbands on. He suggested getting nails put on. The rationale was they are thicker and I wouldn't be able to pick at my fingers.

So, I now have beautifully manicured solar nails!!! Even after all the years of picking at them, they look brand new. But before this sort of thing could even work for me nails or not, I had to start feeling better about myself and the anxiety, obsessive thoughts and depression had to be dealt with first. Otherwise, I would have found some other way to take my anxiety out on myself.

This is just one example I have many more but I don't want to bore you or anyone...giggle. Does this help?