I've been in constant therapy for 8 years now? But I've had 3 Ts in that time period: ex-T, T, and now L.

So I was out of therapy for many years. I had locked myself in my house and almost never went out. My neighbors didn't even know I lived there. Until my husband had a health scare and we decided to go see doctors to get our health back in order. Living life was too scary and hard for me, so my doctor referred me to a psychiatrist. After awhile with the psychiatrist, she suggested I find a therapist. I found ex-T. It was hard starting therapy over, but worth it. I was able to get out of the house more, start driving again, could go grocery shopping, etc. Until she abandoned me. When she abandoned me, I made the choice to see another therapist right away. I knew I couldn't survive the loss on my own. So I started over with T.

I was with T for 4 years. It was really hard at first because we had to balance intake/history with support for the abandonment. But we did it, and T helped me so so much. And all the work with T helped prepare me for L. T took a maternity leave and referred me to L. I wanted to go without a therapist, but T convinced me to just to try L out. I again had to start over. T was right. I did need someone during her leave. And things between L and I worked out so well, that I stuck with L even when T came back.

The reason I'm telling you my story is because I have made the decision to start over with a therapist multiple times. I'm lucky that each time got better. I'm also a believer that things happen for a reason.

If you do decide to go back to therapy, I'd suggest doing some research. Look up what the different modalities are and what modalities usually work for your symptoms/diagnosis. For example: DBT is usually best for Borderline. But most will say it's the relationship that actually matters; rapport. I find both to be true. I think the relationship is most important, AND having the right modality helps a lot.

If/when you do decide to look for a therapist, try to see if they will do an initial 15min phone consult to see if you like the person. After that, trust your gut. I find that my gut instinct is usually right.

I hope that helps some. Best wishes!