• Effectiveness

  Can't tell (for major depressive disorder)
• Effectiveness

  Can't tell (for anxious mood)
• Effectiveness

  Can't tell (for problems concentrating)
• Effectiveness

  Slight (for persistent worrying)
• Side effects

  Mild (guilt about what should be accomplished)
• Adherence

  Sometimes
• Burden

  A little hard to take

Dosage: 50 min Weekly

Advice & Tips: The particular therapist/therapy I do not think was helpful to me. I never felt like I was making much progress on my core issues and anxieties. I initially came to this therapist for help with my performance anxiety and depression around writing and creating; I couldn't complete or focus on my school work that required any writing without suffering and panic. I also experienced this with painting and other work, but especially writing. We spent about 2-3 months doing a full diagnosis, and we did not find anything new. I did not like the treatment method she used, but I was drawn to her because of her knowledge of holistic treatments, and that she understood my sensitivity to anti-depressants and other medications. and I don't think I felt comfortable with her to tell her what was actually going on. Once in awhile when I would really open up and get into a deeper understanding of myself, it would be ignored and she would hyper focus on whatever issues or task of the week. Everything we did was too compartmentalized, and that stressed me out more. I feel like a lot of time was wasted talking about things I did not want to talk about. I often left feeling worse because I didn't complete the goals we would have set for the previous week, yet still filled with so many thoughts and issues I wanted to talk about it my head. Everything that we talked about was just very superficial, and almost too cold/clinical. "Did you complete this, did the fighting with your dad decrease, how is the depression from 1-10" She also does not know much/or anything besides what she read in the DSM about Borderline Personality Disorder (or that's what it seemed maybe I am harshly judging), so I am now going to seek someone with a different approach, and knowledge of my main disorder. She was very helpful in helping me apply to programs and find hospitals when I needed to, giving me a discounted co-payment, and other accommodations, but I just could not connect with her advice. I felt like I was scattered in my treatment too often which lead me to feeling more incompetent than I already do on a daily basis. We would talk about trying new things like hypnosis, art therapy and other different methods with her but we would never get around to them, its like she would forget our next meeting. (which made me feel terrible because that is a huge trigger for me to start things and never finish them, or say you are going to do something and never do them.) I don't know how much of anything is my therapists fault, and I appreciate everything she has done for me, but I think it is time to seek a different treatment. She would talk a lot about how she helped her other patients using different methods, but I never felt like she was helping me. Tip: If you do not feel open/comfortable with your therapist do not feel pressure to continue with them. I was waiting things out for a long time, but I did not accept it was not working.

Cost: < $25 monthly

• Effectiveness

  Slight (for major depressive disorder)
• Effectiveness

  Slight (for anxious mood)
• Effectiveness

  Slight (for problems concentrating)
• Effectiveness

  Slight (for persistent worrying)
• Side effects

  None
• Adherence

  Usually
• Burden

  Somewhat hard to take

Dosage: 100 min Monthly

Cost: $50-99 monthly

• Effectiveness

  Slight (for chronic pain)
• Side effects

  None
• Adherence

  Always
• Burden

  A little hard to take

Dosage: 90 min Monthly

• Effectiveness

  Major (for post-traumatic stress disorder)
• Effectiveness

  Major (for Support mental / emotional health)
• Effectiveness

  Major (for suicidal thoughts or urges)
• Side effects

  None
• Adherence

  Always
• Burden

  A little hard to take

Advice & Tips: Though the financial burden of paying for therapy out of pocket sometimes gets in my way of feeling like I should keep going or deserve to keep going... I discuss this with my therapist and we hash out the pros and cons until I am no longer in confusion as to whether I should go or not go. I did stop suddenly for a month last May, 2010 right after my son deployed for Afghanistan. At the time I didn't make the connection but later when I agreed to come in and just talk about what was going on with me. I would not agree to come in on at a regular time. At the end of each weekly session I would decide if I was coming back the next week and then we'd find a day and time if I was. When I finally realized that this odd behavior began when my son left I understood that this was somehow the only way I could feel like I had any power over my life. Still, it was a good experience and I am glad I had the courage to follow my intuition. I am now back to going at a regular time every week and feel I have grown enourmously in the last year. That being said... I also feel I have no desire to leave therapy though if I did I would have money to spend on my kids, and a nice vacation somewhere. I fantasize about traveling a lot but I also am really paranoid about going away also. There are other things that I know I still need to work on before I quit therapy but at least I feel like I am working with a great therapist and my trust in her has grown and thus I guess my trust in myself is growing... small steps do lead somewhere.

Cost: < $25 monthly

• Effectiveness

  Major (for post-traumatic stress disorder)
• Effectiveness

  Major (for Support mental / emotional health)
• Effectiveness

  Major (for suicidal thoughts or urges)
• Side effects

  Moderate
• Adherence

  Always
• Burden

  Very hard to take

Dosage: 100 min Weekly

Advice & Tips: Laura is the most effective therapist I have had to date. I am indebted to her strength, compassion, insight, and professionalism through these years. The reason I put the "side effects" as moderate is because we both work very hard in our sessions together and I am almost always very tired afterwards and even though I can usually do a few errands after (though not always) I always come home exhausted mentally and emotionally and have to sleep for a couple of hours. I feel this is actually healthy processing time for me. The reason I put the burden at "VERY" is because of the financial burden. Instead of being able to go on anything but simple road trips to see family or friends or go camping, we do not have the money to have other luxuries like people we know have. We've never owned a car newer than two to three years old, don't frequent coffee shops, can't afford to give our kids material things that they might have enjoyed. On the plus side, I think this has made my kids resiliant, compassionate young men and has kept our family appreciative of the simple things in life. Love may not be all you need but it's a big part of what makes our world go round.

Cost: $200+ monthly

• Effectiveness

  Major (for Support mental / emotional health)
• Side effects

  None
• Adherence

  Always
• Burden

  Very hard to take

Dosage: 100 min Weekly

Advice & Tips: Don't knock therapy because you haven't had success with it. For people with serious attachment issues, PTSD, major depression and even people who are bi-polar, I don't think there is a drug or other treatment that can do what psychotherapy can do.

Cost: $200+ monthly

• Effectiveness

  Slight (for generalized anxiety disorder)
• Effectiveness

  Slight (for major depressive disorder)
• Side effects

  None
• Adherence

  Always
• Burden

  A little hard to take

Dosage: 50 min Weekly

Cost: < $25 monthly