Yeah, that is really crappy on their part. I will say that I don't know how much my therapist now actually listened to what she said and I know he did not read a ton of old notes. He seemed to want to start somewhat fresh and form his own opinions (plus the old notes were probably mostly about cats . So I don't know what that introduction really did except make it seem a little easier for me at the time.

Because I started with him March 1 and on March 18 my assistant walked out of work and was fired, leaving me to do both our jobs plus the job of the 2nd assistant they had posted because I was already doing too much, we really jumped straight into it and there wasn't a big get-to-know you period which actually worked really well for me. He told me that I could talk to him about my feelings about the other person leaving but I didn't want to ever and now I honestly remember her last few weeks and lots of tears and then I remember starting to see him and immediately my life got really stressful and I had to rely on him for help quickly (and I had lithium toxicity too) so it all came together without much thought or even effort. He was there, I needed help and suddenly 6 months had passed and I couldn't imagine another therapist as good with me as he is. He thought he was leaving a while back and I cried and we had some really hard sessions until finally something happened and he stayed. We've come to a strange relationship because he's never treated anyone even close to 10 years before and so we have a friendship thing along with the professional thing. It's weird but it works. We just don't discuss politics.

I hope it works out for you quickly. It will work out, it may just take some time. If you have some ideas on what you want in a therapist you could give them to the office people (that would also remind them you are waiting). My center has a website with staff blurbs; that also might help you narrow down who you ask for-like if someone doesn't list mood disorder probably a no.