Does age really make a difference?

Hmm, I always wondered if age mattered in a T, for you. I mean going beyond experience, just in general who do you feel more comfortable with, someone your age, someone younger, or someone older?

I prefer my T's to be older than me. only because I don't think I could take any other T seriously even though I know they are trained and educated

I agree about the Ts being older than you. I've only ever had Ts older than me up until now, where as my DBT T is younger than me. And honestly, it's maed working with the DBT a bit harder because I know I'm older.

(Not that it should make any difference!)

I work best with females Ts (and dietitians, in the past) about 10 years older (give or take 2 years). Too young and they lack the experience to deal with me effectively, too old and female feels like my mother scolding me, and the older male just had a bad memory. The ones I connect with are young enough to be relatable, healthy role models, yet have enough experience to handle me.

I'm in my mid-20s, fyi.

There's usually been a significant age span between myself and my t's. I'll have to revisit this question, within the next two decades, after they all retire.

Me too, I haven't felt comfortable working with a much younger t, even though I liked her a lot in other ways besides her age. I was looking for someone who could be a role model in some ways for life events that a younger t wouldn't have been through. I felt bad that I couldn't work with her because she really went out of her way for me. But I would have been seeing her for her sake, not for mine.

I think my T could be any age and I would still have a very strong maternal erotic transference, although I think an older T is best for me. My T is exactly 15 years older than me (we have the same birthdate).

I don't like a T younger than me. My T is around the same age as me and that makes me feel comfortable.

I usually like to have a Therapist who is within a handful of years of me.

My old t was my mother's age and my new t is my age. It is different but both work for me. With the t my age it is easier for me to feel like a grown up in therapy.

It also depends on your age. I am pushing 50 so I have to get used to having doctors that are younger than me. It I were 30 I probably wouldn't like a younger t.

For a few weeks i had a t that was younger that me, and it just didnt work. I had a lot more life experience and wisdom. I knew it and she knew it. There was no way it was going to work out, i prefer t's to be older and wiser. I am more likely to listen to an older person.

If you don't mind me asking, does it feel different when you get used to having doctors who are younger? Does it feel like you have to rely on them less?

I am in my mid-20s, and my therapist is in her early 30s. I feel more comfortable with someone who is in my age range, but I definitely would not like to work with someone who is younger than I am. I specifically chose a therapist who was young, actually. I started therapy in July and had never really been in therapy before... I liked the idea of going in somewhere where both my therapist and I would be learning something. There are times when I stump her, and there are times when she stumps me. I know it's not ideal, but for me, right now, it works.

I see only older female straight ones. All of those are equal requirements for me (I am lesbian - I don't want to see a therapist who I could run into socially because I am not in a huge community and a good number of my friends are therapists and msws)

Older for me, too. But it more has to do with the fact that I want someone with lots of experience, like 20 years at least practicing as a PhD psychologist (someone who has supervised, seen a lot of different clients/issues - I know that what I have going on is complex. So that would make such a person at least late 40s. I'm 38, so that person would have to be older. The 3 Ts I've had whom I've liked the best have all been in their mid-50s. The first was like 25 years older and the other two closer to 20 years older. Both of the latter two are very young at heart, share the same cultural references as me, hell, liked the same music, etc. So they didn't at all feel too old for me.

For any kind of dr, older is the way I go---at least 5-10 yrs older.

I am about to fire my general practitioner because he is an idiot. (more precisely, a book smart guy who has no emotional intelligence at all. Stuff he said about trauma patients made me want to smack him. CBT t agreed and helped me find a new dr.

My current Therapist is about 3-4 years younger but I like seeing her a lot.

I just need smart, sharp, nice - and I have had good luck when I express that to the switchboard! They know who the good people are. Okay, I lucked out twice - once for my gp and once for my pdoc. Well my gp was my exact age, but my pdoc was a student, and when he left, he referred me to another very smart person, who later left to go teach at a university, so you know she's no slouch.

I've had 3 Ts. xT is a male right around my same age..give or take a year... we could talk movies and music but really its not important to therapy.

T2..is a female about 6 years older and that was sort of nice because we were doing CBT and talking a lot of real life and kids going away to college and she is just a step past me in that phase of life so it was helpful....
YT - (young T) is around 28ish... I am in my mid forties.. I really really thought it would be a problem... I actually went to see him because he is in my insurance plan(paid out of pocket for others) and because I loved his profile on a find a T website... but I knew he was young... But he is good... knows his stuff... is equally as good as the other T so by the time he is 45 he should be an excellent sought after T... so for the only issue that has come up is that he had no idea what the Flip Wilson Show was so I told him to check it out on YouTube....

I think it would be very very rare for me to see a therapist my age or even a couple of years older, lol.

But my current T is about 10 years older than me and that works perfectly. She is old enough to be a good adult and young enough to relate to. She's also kind of old-timey in some ways which I can be like as well. Personally, I wouldn't want a T that was way older, it would feel parental.

I have always had ts that were older than me. I don't think that I would feel comfortable with a therapist that was younger than me. I feel like that would stir up all sorts of issues- jealousy that they are so young and successful and I'm not, they had the childhood I didn't have, etc. That being said, I'm speaking theoretically, since I am only 16, haha, but this is how I think I will feel when I'm older.

I do best with a T that is around the same age as me. My current T is about 10 years older. If the T is too much older than me, then I get the "mom" vibe and struggle to trust the T. Too much younger means they haven't had that many years of experience and I do need a T with a decent amount of experience.

I need a T my age or older, but approximately in the same experience of life range as me. I would have trouble being confident in a T who was not a parent, for instance, as I have three children and a T without parenting experience would be clueless about many of my life challenges. I prefer a T who has marriage experience, even if it ended in divorce. I prefer a T who has lived through the same stages of life I have gone through. We have to be able to relate on that level. Sorry, but a 30-year-old, unmarried, non-parent just wouldn't have much to offer me.

Sounds like therapists is a great profession'to combat age discrimination. The only business where it helps to be over 50!

I wanted credentials and extensive experience, and I was @ 30, so that meant a T who would likely be mid 40's or older.

My T is actually a few years younger than I am...and he doesn't seem to have some of the life experience that I have. I'm kind of amazed at how well he can empathize with me and just how attuned and intuitive he really is....He is very intelligent (it's not just the transference lol). Idk, hopefully it's not an issue at some point, but right now I can say his age has not interfered at all in the way you might imagine it could. I think everyone is different so you just never know.