quirky wrote:
I went to a therapist today for the first time. It's free through my university, so I don't know the quality of it, but I gave it a try. My therapist was a nice elderly man (in his 70s - maybe his 80s.) I shared my concerns (he doesn't like labels like AS, which i expected, but at least he knew what it was.) but we didn't have time for me to share half of them. I explained the stimming - he had a lot of interest in that, but I could tell he didn't exactly know what to make of it. I explained the sleeping difficulties - he suggested warm milk! I'm like if 3 benadryl can't do it, I doubt that will. I explained my anxieties - but he couldn't seem to understand what exactly made me anxious - it's not all social situations, its ones where I have to socialize with many people beyond just chit chat. He was hard of hearing and I just think he was a bit too old. Then I tried to explain my obsessions - he was really interested, but when I explained "House" was my current obsession, he couldn't figure out what that was. He had never heard of the show, and kept asking me about it and when its on and what station - like he didn't believe me or something. I'm going back next week but I would prefer a younger, female therapist - however, I don't really know how to say that. He seemed too perplexed by me - how I could get really good grades, not drink or do drugs, not have an eating disorder, and not havea desire for romantic relationships. It was like he was expecting me to admit to some severe thing. He was really into how I described my mother being difficult - if he tries to blame all of my issues on that, I'll be really annoyed, because most is unconnected. It was nice to share, but I don't feel like it was especially helpful.
Heh, something similar happened to me:
I was in a boarding school summer camp, and I took a course called "Psychology and the Individual" (pretty much adolescent psychology). The teacher was a Chaplain-wannabe-psychologist, and he immediately noticed I was different (in fact, I introduced myself as being a nerd, obsessed with wikipedia, and having social problems). He was sure that I was hiding something, probably about my parents (who I said I got along with very well--I'm home-schooled, and being at home with them all day helps everyone get along better). He always had a bizarre attitude when talking to me, like he wanted to know more about my life... Despite the fact that I spoke far more often than anyone else in the class (I'm guessing they weren't inclined to answer because they live every day with the problems we were discussing), he never accepted that I was telling the truth... and of course now I know why I'm a nerd obsessed with wikipedia and having multiple social problems.