[FurryGuineaPig]

Hi,

I had about six months of counselling last year. It helped a bit - I processed a lot of feelings around a traumatic event and can now reflect on it with a degree of peace. The counsellor was ok - she was a bit of a hippy and I sometimes felt she'd just latched on to this one issue. Neither of us live in our native country and even though that was quite a good icebreaker I felt she liked having someone to bounce her views off about the country we both now live in.

Anyway, I feel I need to go back into counselling as my anxiety is escalating again, but I can't help feeling I should seek out someone else. And I'm finding that really daunting. Would it be weird to go to a new counsellor? Would they expect me to go back over all the old ground from last year? There is so much going on in my head and I need help with that rather than going over stuff that I'm kinda okay with now.

Does anyone else find this hard? I keep putting off making a call or sending an email to a counsellor I'm interested in as it just seems so daunting.

[unaluna]

It would not be weird to go to a new counselor.

[ElectricManatee]

Not weird at all. It's okay to try somebody new, even if only for the different experience. It doesn't mean you don't appreciate the ways in which your old counsellor helped you. And it's also okay to be very clear about what you want to focus on and what you don't want to focus on.

[ScarletPimpernel]

It's not weird to find a new T. Some people return to a previous T; some people start fresh.

There's two things you could do about not wanting to go over your history. One: write/summarize it. I did this. I've been in therapy too long to have to go over my past again, but my past is relevant to my current issues. So I just wrote it all out and handed it to her. Of course, during our first couple sessions we went over my history, but after those few sessions, we moved onto current issues. Second: just simply tell the new T you don't want to review your whole past.

[FurryGuineaPig]

Thank you all, that's reassuring. I've found a counsellor I'm drawn to, just trying to pluck up the courage to make contact. Going from her website, she seems to use a different approach to my previous counsellor which might be more helpful, and is much more local to where I live, which would be good from a practical point of view - I used to have to sit in my car for ages after my sessions as I was so drained and didn't feel safe to drive for 45 minutes on the interstate. I will aim to get in touch this week.

[Sunflower123]

Good for you. I hope things work out with this potential new counselor.