Ohhh, wow. The "free" thing.

I have seen many therapists in my life. 2 of them were at no cost (one Veteran's admin, the other, my current therapist, free because I have medicaid, which covers my medical care at no cost).

The VA therapist I saw for 6 years. Pretty good therapy and who can complain about 6 years? Except that he terminated abruptly - absolutely no warning. It was six years of very consistent weekly sessions. Then one day I went in for my usual session and he told me that he had been transferred to another location without warning so, bye bye.

The sudden loss of that therapist, without any closure whatsoever, was traumatic. In fact, I still have nightmares about it - and the end to that therapy occurred 22 years ago!

At this time I have been seeing a therapist I adore - technically for 14 months. The problem is, I am supposed to see her weekly, but she is chronically ill. That means that sessions are frequently cancelled. At this time I have not seen her for 2 weeks. Very disruptive to therapeutic consistency. In fact, the situation might be more harmful than helpful.

So...free therapy. It seems to me that "free" therapy actually comes with an extremely high cost.