[Martina]

I have been seeing a psychiatric nurse practitioner for just over a year, she does both meds and therapy. I am actually really stable right now, doing pretty well. But a lot of my issues won't just "go away" with meds alone. I do still need therapy.

She has been asking me for a while to bring my husband with me and do marriage counseling with her. He finally agreed. We've been to three sessions.

My question is this - how often should I be seeing my psych nurse individually, and as a couple?

She seemed to suggest that we should see her as a couple every 2 weeks, but that she didn't need to see me more than once a month.

But if I go every 2 weeks for me, and every 2 weeks for couples, then I'm seeing her every week.

Is that too much? What would you do?

[Amazonmom]

I see my PNP every week, but the never ending search for meds that work is still going on. I don't think once a week including couples therapy is too much. If you feel like fewer sessions for you is good right now, run it by the PNP.

It's cool to meet another person who knows about psych NPs!

QUOTE=Martina;1046205]I have been seeing a psychiatric nurse practitioner for just over a year, she does both meds and therapy. I am actually really stable right now, doing pretty well. But a lot of my issues won't just "go away" with meds alone. I do still need therapy.

She has been asking me for a while to bring my husband with me and do marriage counseling with her. He finally agreed. We've been to three sessions.

My question is this - how often should I be seeing my psych nurse individually, and as a couple?

She seemed to suggest that we should see her as a couple every 2 weeks, but that she didn't need to see me more than once a month.

But if I go every 2 weeks for me, and every 2 weeks for couples, then I'm seeing her every week.

Is that too much? What would you do?[/QUOTE]

[Rhapsody]

If she feels that couple therapy is needed more right now (every two weeks) then I would stick with that and continue to see her by your self once a month - - - - - in all you will be getting therapy three time a month due to the fact that couple therapy gives individual therapy as well.

You cant heal a couple with out also healing the person.

[sunrise]

Hey Martina, and amazonmom, I have a Psych NP too! I see her once a month for prescriptions and sometimes also she will do a longer session and bill it as therapy. (I also have a regular T.) In our last session we were talking about PNPs vs. pdocs and I told her all the reasons I prefer seeing her to a pdoc. She said that sometimes her clients will tell her they want a second opinion on meds she suggests, and she refers them to a pdoc. But she also warns them what to expect from the pdoc and how he/she will offer them something very different from what she does--she doesn't want them to be too surprised or intimidated. She says they usually come back, glad to be in her care again.

I think everyone has different needs about the frequency of individual therapy. If you need to go to individual therapy more frequently than once a month, then tell that to your PNP. Maybe she thinks you just need her for meds and so monthly is enough for that. Maybe if you tell her of your need for talk therapy she will understand you need to see her more frequently.

My H and I went to couples therapy to my therapist. I kept seeing him individually too. I can't remember the frequency but I do believe I often had a session of my own in between the couples sessions. I found this very helpful because sometimes things would come up in the couples sessions that I needed individual help with. (My H was also free to go to individual therapy with this T but he never did.) My couples sessions were very intense and this was a time I needed a lot of support so for me, it definitely would have been a mistake to only see my T once a month during this time. But everyone is different. You know best how often you need to see your T. Can you share your desired frequency with your PNP? If she says no, can you ask her why? Maybe it is something to do with insurance.

[Martina]

I'm wondering if her reason why is because I'm unemployed and money is tight, and my insurance has an annual limit on the # of visits. I should have mentioned that in my OP. But my copay is only $20, so that would be $80 a month total...a lot, but worth it. And I won't reach my cap on the # of visits unless I start going weekly (individually) since our couples sessions are billed with my husband as the patient, and the limit is on each patient.

I think I'm just going to go ahead and go to weekly - one week with just me, the next week as a couple, the next just me...so on. I think I need that right now.

But in a way I'm afraid to tell her that I need more therapy, because then she'll think I'm slipping again. I really really really really really do NOT want to go back on the Zyprexa - I gained 75 pounds - but I know that will be the first choice when I go unstable again, since it worked so well for me (other than the weight gain). I've been off it completely for about 3-4 weeks now. So far so good. I think my need for therapy is more to do with just lingering depression and feelings from my marriage and feelings of guilt and inadequacy since I got us into a financial pit.

Oh, and I was a little hesitant to use a psych nurse at first. I was actually trying to get in to see a psychiatrist in her same office, but she was booked up for over 2 months and I needed help NOW. So they gave me to my current psych nurse. I thought I'd just use her to "hold me over" until I could get into the psychiatrist. But she ended up being a LIFESAVER to me, exactly what I needed, she really listened to me and CARED about me, I didn't feel like just another patient, I felt like I mattered. Took me YEARS to finally find her. Now I'm scared to let her go. If I can't find a job before fall, I'll be looking at relocating. I really don't want to start all over again with a new therapist. Sigh. Keep wishing & hoping for a job here!