[Sad45]

I have found that therapy has left me feeling more depressed. Is that because of the therapist? Do I have to see a therapist? Is therapy one of those things that make you worse before you feel better? BTW... I am diagnosed bipolar II, major depressive disorder, ADHD, BPD, and PTSD

[Shazerac]

Welcome to psych central

If you feel more depressed from talking to your therapist it may not be a good match for you. Sometimes we need to shop around to find a therapist that we click with.

[Fuzzybear]

Welcome to pc

Do you feel that the therapist listens to you, and is respectful? I can’t tell from the information that you give whether therapy is likely to be helpful, or if another therapist is likely to be more helpful. It can be “normal” (imo) to feel worse for a while, have you discussed this with the therapist? Maybe they can adjust their approach

[Ididitmyway]

There is no general rule on how therapy works or is supposed to work and there is also no general rule on whether one needs therapy when they are experiencing emotional issues. Some people get better without therapy, others need therapy to get better.

One's individual therapy experience depends on various factors. It certainly depends on whether the therapist and the client are a good match, on whether the client is ready to do the healing work, on the severity of the clients problems, on therapy settings etc.

Sometimes people do feel worse before they get better and sometimes it doesn't happen. I'd say from my own experience that "getting worse" shouldn't push you in the place that is too dark and depressing. What is usually meant by "getting worse" is that a certain amount of pain that has been repressed before often starts surfacing, but pain itself is not necessarily the same as "getting worse". When it gets released it may hurt, but it also feels somewhat liberating. If there is no sense of release and clarity then pain turns into a meaningless suffering, which is an indication that therapy took the wrong turn.

If you just feel more depressed with no clarity, no new insight into your state of mind or your life situation, it might be best to seek help from another professional or outside of psychotherapy field altogether.

[maybeblue]

Unless you are court ordered you don't have to see a therapist. Sometimes though psychiatrists insist on it or they won't do meds. If you feel worse than you did when you started therapy, I think that is a really good thing to talk to your therapist about. If it doesn't improve soon I think you should re-evaluate the therapist.

I think it does happen sometimes that people feel worse after starting therapy. Sometimes this is the therapist or the therapist-client fit. Sometimes it is because you start thinking about things that you have previously been avoiding thinking about. That can actually be beneficial in the long term, even if it doesn't feel that good at the time.

I am curious though, is this your first time in therapy? Did your current therapist give you all of those diagnoses?

[BudFox]

Originally Posted by Sad45

I have found that therapy has left me feeling more depressed. Is that because of the therapist? Do I have to see a therapist? Is therapy one of those things that make you worse before you feel better? BTW... I am diagnosed bipolar II, major depressive disorder, ADHD, BPD, and PTSD

For me it wasn't the therapists, it was the process itself that made me feel worse on a number of levels.

[ReptileInYourHead]

I’ll just confirm what was said previously, it’s been summed up beautifully.
I’m a year into therapy and my entire life has changed, it’s been hard, confusing and painful but very beneficial. I think sometimes you have to tear the house down and rebuild it to better suit your needs/desires.
Stick with it for a bit, you can reassess at any time obviously. Good luck!

[stopdog]

I do not see that therapy is useful for everyone or for every situation. Have you tried not hiring a therapist and seeing how it goes for you without therapy?

[Tuttapizza]

Originally Posted by Sad45

I have found that therapy has left me feeling more depressed. Is that because of the therapist? Do I have to see a therapist? Is therapy one of those things that make you worse before you feel better? BTW... I am diagnosed bipolar II, major depressive disorder, ADHD, BPD, and PTSD

Hey, i think I can somehow see what you mean.
I've only tried psychodynamic therapy. I do not have diagnosis of any sort, I suffer from anxiety, insomnia and depressive periods that come and go and sometimes stay for several months.
Whilst therapy helped me get out of the latest deep depressive episode by targeting a specific topic that was messing me up, I believe therapy has contributed to making me feel worse lately, as in for the past 3 months. I believe this is because now that I've targeted a specific triggering circumstance, there's nothing to talk about. I am still the same person and I have a tendency to not sleep feel, feel anxious and fall into depression. Therapy fished out painful memories that definitely contributed to making me how I am...but so what? No solution whatsoever is coming up. It feels really aimless and a waste of time and money.
I would like to try other types of therapy though to see if they have any more effect on me.

So it sounds like you tried some therapy? What type what is? How was your experience in more detail?

[Sad45]

I have only tried a few sessions of therapy. I dont know what type. I know what is in my past. I dont want to talk about it. I'm not sure I understand the point of bringing up old scars.

[Sad45]

I had one therapist who told me that medication was a crutch because I could get over my depression on my own. Then he told me that my parenting style was causing my son's behavior. My son is autistic. I stopped seeing him.

[coolibrarian]

Sometimes therapy can make a person feel worse (but not forever), because client feelings get validated by the T (SOMETIMES; don't jump on me!), perhaps for the first time. For instance, I say that I had a particular experience which made me feel a certain way, and T validates that. When this spoken, sometimes this validation can make a person claim their depression, as opposed to when someone invalidates you, saying you "have nothing to be depressed about." Another example: in the early days, not too many sessions in, I asked T what she thought my diagnosis was, and she said, "Depression." I burst into tears, which surprised her, because, as she said, surely I knew that I was depressed? I said, yes, but you SAID it. By saying it, it became more real for me.
As therapy went on, I learned about some of the reasons for my depression, and as I got stronger, therapy ceased to make me depressed. I hope I explained this well enough. Feel free to ask questions. Gentle hugs.