Posted by stavros on January 6, 2004, at 0:06:53
In reply to Re: Anyone have any experience with Menninger (cli, posted by Derek Sudonim on January 5, 2004, at 23:46:02
Derek,
Thanks for your response. I have had several therapist over the last 10 years and have liked and trusted several from social worker to psyD. I like the one i am seeing now but i must have very deep seated issues. I trust him but I am so desperate to get this thing off my mind. I am going to start a more spiritual emphasis this year. Your post was the first positive I have heard about Menninger. I loath freudian thinking as I wasted 10K$ on 3 months of intestive therapy. Are they still from the Freud school of thought? I would love to owe my life or whats left of it to a therapist. I know it's in me but I cannot get to it? Every day i am one step away from wanting to end it all. I wish you well and thanks again
S
> Yes I was an inpatient there some years ago and had a positive experience there. I viewed it as my last card to play--no other therapy had helped me. Menninger's was life-changing for me. I cannot say the same for some, but many others were helped also. Basically, in all therapies, you need a counselor you can trust, who you can believe believes in you, and accepts you for who you are. I found such a therapist at Menninger's. Menninger's was tremendously expensive, and I'm sorry to all those who need help sorely and cannot afford it. I could not have done so if it were not for a good health insurance plan at the time. Yet, ironically, it was not the sophisticated treatment plan that helped me, but simply having a personal counselor who acccepted me unconditionally. That is the key--someone you can trust who you can feel accepts you as you are, but at the same time has your future health and life at heart. I am indebted to my therapist for my life. Several other nurses were helpful to me, too. It is possible you can find such a therapist somewhere other than Menninger's. My therapist at Menninger's did not have an elaborate education--he was basically a social worker with a Master's degree trained in psychotherapy, and not a psychologist or psychiatrist--and yet that was the kind of therapist that helped me the most; simply a man who was willing to listen to me, empathize, and support me until I could develop the kinds of inner supports I needed. A friend, really.
>
> Whatever you decide, make sure it is your decision, not just you trying to please someone else. Then, if you go, try to find a counselor there you can trust. You'll have a huge team of people helping you, but your personal therapist will be the most important person.
>
> I will never forget my therapist, and am thankful for my life for my experience at Menninger's. My last card was a lucky one.
poster:stavros
thread:281840
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040105/msgs/296977.html