[learning1]

This post is long- responses are welcome even if you don't read it all.

rrg. T acknowledged he hadn't slept well. I can't imagine having a job where I can't get by when I have a sleepless night once in a while, so I should give him a break. Has your t had a session like that, where s/he seemed really off?

But, this t already is slightly over my line with spending time just chatting & talking about himself. I get the sense my issues might not be worth taking too seriously. Tonight the whole session seemed like just chatting. I brought up a few things, but felt uncomfortable to talk about them deeply. And he didn't ask. Am I taking myself too seriously?

He talked about his travels (interesting and related to what came up, but not exactly therapy-ish), gave me a suggestion for a restaurant, talked about the changing diversity of the town where we live, talked about his experiences in grad school (again, related to a topic I brought up, but didn't seem like therapy). He actually said at one point, bring me back if this is too far off with talking about myself. I don't know why I didn't feel comfortable to do it. Should I be the one to take the initiative to take the conversation (to what i think is) deeper? Maybe he's a little afraid to do it, now that I've told him I want to initiate the topics we discuss? Or he was just too tired?

I'm getting to the point I'm not confident therapy can do much for me, but I don't want to believe that. My diagnosis is mild to moderate depression, ongoing for decades. No severe trauma or abuse, nothing else. I'm not sure my issues are serious enough or real enough for therapy to help.

I'm getting closer to emailing the couples t I had earlier, though I'm nervous. I feel bad about maybe leaving this t. He's nice to me & I like him. Maybe he would be able to help me. Other t was challenging/intimidating. I don't know what to do. rrg.

In case this post isn't long enuf, I posted about my current t before and here. And the challenging t here

[Christina86]

You need another T, or this one needs a wake up call. Therapy is for YOU and if the client doesn't think it's going indepth enough, that's a big flashing sign to me!

Therapy can help with moderating depression, but only if you've got a T you can feel comfortable working with. It doesn't sound like this one is working out for you.

You could email the couples T, but you could find another T altogether. Don't feel bad about leaving this T, you need to do whats good for YOU.

[Leed]

I agree 100%. That therapist NEEDS a therapist!! He sounds like he himself is in trouble. He needed someone to talk to and you were it.

Find another therapist -- even if your depression is moderate, it could easily become severe if not caught early. You're smart to start therapy before it does. So find another -- and see where things go as far as therapy. God bless and keep us posted. Hugs, Lee

[madisgram]

sounds like your T is not effective in therapy. if it were me i'd find another one. the focus should be on YOU, not the other way around! you wouldn't have gone to a therapist unless you thought it would help. try not to double guess your decision to go into therapy.

[learning1]

Thanks everyone. I guess you're all right, it's time to try again. I've changed t's several times in the past year, but this one still probably isn't the right one. The challenging t I had before is the one who seemed to make the most difference. I'm pretty nervous to contact him again, but I think it's time to see what happens.

Current t has been nice to me and I feel bad about quitting, even though I can't tell as he's helping. I kind of want to have him as a back up support in case "challenging t" leaves me falling apart. Is that legitimate, to go to a t you know is nicer or more challenging, depending on what you want at the moment?

Anyway, first things first.