Quote:
Originally Posted by licketysplit
Here's the difference for me: Experience prior to licensing does not count toward experience in seeing someone through a long course of therapy, which is what I need. Working at a crisis center only means she was good at talking to people in crisis, but says nothing about being able to manage long term therapy. To me, that is a huge issue. I need someone who can do more than 6 months to a year and has been through all the ups and downs, trials and errors, that come with long term therapy. That other stuff--social work, counseling in a school center--just doesn't count for me. They need to be specific about it. If they aren't, why not?
I am paying out of pocket and expect a well trained, experienced, honest-about-themselves, professional.
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experience after licensing doesn't necessarily mean they have had any more long-term clients either. with the push for more and more short-term therapies (at least in the US), most clinicians consider a year or 2 as "long-term". Insurance certainly considers that "long term" as well. It's actually quite frustrating, as I think there's merit in being able to build a trusting relationship with a clinician, and carrying that through the deeper work that needs to be done for some people.
Attitudes around care revolve around what insurance will and will not pay for. Many therapists rely on insurance to pay for visits. With the limnitations put on that, the general concensus on standards of care have shorter stints of therapy being the norm. When I was looking for a T here, the standard "length of therapy" was considered to be 12-20 weeks, at which point most of the clinicians I contacted would refer out to private-pay clinicians. When I called those, even they said the average length of therapy is about a year.
People on PC tend to be in therapy for longer, but I'm finding the average person seeking services doesn't deem anything longer than 6 months or so as necessary. I think that's reflected in the way the bios are written...
I agree though, I would prefer a T who had the experience of working longer-term with clients and seeing them through the ups and downs of the harder work. Especially with deeper-rooted issues like a history of abuse of assault (I'm still blown away by the mandate that the current agency I attend only provide short-term counseling around abuse and assault issues. I think they miss the boat on being able to build a trusting and stable relationship with their clients. I'm surprised anything actually gets resolved in only 4 months...).