[flannel_pajamas]

Considering seeing a therapist. I tried once before several years ago. Money is tight and I can't afford to shop around trying one therapist then another and another looking for a good fit. I'm basically just looking to find the cheapest one I can which I'm sure isn't the best method, but it's really all I can do right now.

But, I'm afraid of putting myself in the hands of somebody who may not be good. Is it possible for a bad therapist to do more harm than good? I'm reluctant to start getting life advice from somebody who may really have no idea how to help.

The therapist I saw several years ago didn't help much, and eventually wanted to send me to somebody else because she didn't feel like we were getting anywhere. I'm worried about going through this again and wasting money that I don't really have.

So, basically, is a bad therapist better than no therapist? Thoughts?

[browncat]

Hi, well I can empathize with the money situation! I don't feel that a therapist should really give advice, but rather help empower you to make healthy choices for yourself. Just my opinion. I do think a bad therapist can do a lot of harm. Still, I dont think its impossible to find a good, affordable T. I did. Good luck to you!

[stopdog]

I think no therapist is better than an actively bad one. If you can figure out a way to contain the badness or make it work for you in a different way - then perhaps it would be better than none at all.
I also would not trust any therapist for life advice. I don't believe in getting advice from them.

[anilam]

Is a bad T better than no T at all? I think it's not, he/she can do a lot of harm:/

However, you are correlating good/bad with the money they charge. I don't think its that easy. I went to a very well-known (and unbelievably expensive) T and he was a very, very bad fit for me- I know ppl that swear by him but to me he did far more harm than good:/ I shopped around and ended up with a great T (for me) and he is very affordable.

Plus there are sliding scales/discounts some Ts offer you might be eligible for...

[Partless]

Originally Posted by flannel_pajamas

So, basically, is a bad therapist better than no therapist? Thoughts?

It kind of depends on how bad is the therapist and what problem you have that requires therapy. Some sensitive or complex issues require the best of therapists.

The relationship between price and quality of therapy is not clear though it's more chaotic from one side than the other. In other words, if you pay 300 bucks, it doesn't tell you that you're getting a great educated therapist, while if you get a therapist for 20 bucks, it's very unlikely that this guy is a Harvard educated master therapist. So look for cheap but not insanely cheap!

If you want to go with the cheapest, that's fine but make sure they're registered, and find out their educational/training background, and see if they have dealt with your problem before. It's even better if someone you know (your medical doctor) has dealt with this person before. If you don't know anything else about them, try to go to a group type therapy where therapist works with other therapists especially if they have some sort of association with a local university or government agency.

Don't go to some random therapist who works on his own, whose name you find from some private website or blog, who got his degree from an online "university", and still believes in Freudian penis envy. :P

Good luck.

[flannel_pajamas]

I found somebody (through the Psychology Today website listing of therapists in my area) willing to work with me at a reasonable cost. She does have a state license. She is listed as a "marriage and family therapist" which seems to be how most I have found in my price range are listed. Her specialty seems to be relationship issues (not my problem...I'm not in a relationship), but she does mention in her profile working with people with depression and anxiety which are my biggest issues.

So, hopefully, it will help me even if we aren't really the ideal match.

[PinkFlamingo99]

A bad therapist can definitely hurt youworse. But I don't necessarily think that has much to do with cost.

[Partless]

Originally Posted by flannel_pajamas

I found somebody (through the Psychology Today website listing of therapists in my area) willing to work with me at a reasonable cost. She does have a state license. She is listed as a "marriage and family therapist" which seems to be how most I have found in my price range are listed. Her specialty seems to be relationship issues (not my problem...I'm not in a relationship), but she does mention in her profile working with people with depression and anxiety which are my biggest issues.

So, hopefully, it will help me even if we aren't really the ideal match.

Well I'm glad, you did some good things in my opinion, to get the additional insurance that this person is not going to end up hurting you by terrible incompetence. Now hopefully this is going to be also a decent personality match and you're on your way to getting better.