THE THINGS I USE TO HELP ME HEAL !

For many of us as survivors we tend to be withdrawn when we go to see a therapist for the first time. Why? Well think about they are in some form or fashion and authoratative figure and isn't that the role of the perpatrators who hurt us?
One of the main things that I would like to stress in this article is that as a survivor keep in mind that this interview process may not be helpful. Although I am hoping it will be. When I went to meet with my first therapist I did not get to choose because I was in foster care at the time. But, now that I look back on it I should have been able to have some say of who I talked to. So, what happened when I went to see this therapist? I never spoke to her at all just I just sat there many times quietly waiting on the time to be able to leave her office.
I did not want to be there nor did I like going there either.

As the years past and I grew older I learned that it was soon okay to ask questions that I felt were important in my healing process. I wanted to be sure that if I started with this therapist that she/he was not going to drop me just like that. My experience was that to many times therapist depending on where you go are either doing and internship or they are moving away. I have learned to understand that there are some situations that cannot be avoided like them getting married and job transfers as well as leaving a practice. Over time I learned that questions were okay to ask and actually alot of time therapist were surprised that I wanted to interview them. They did not put me down for this;they actually were kind of awe struck by the fact that someone was interviewing them instead of the other way around. This process gave me and the therapist a chance to see if we would be a good match. WARNING!
Sometimes we may not feel we are a good match but that may be because that therapist was already tapping buttons that others were not doing. So,don't mark that therapsit off your list yet.

1. HAVE YOU EVER WORKED WITH CLIENTS WHO HAVE BEEN DIAGNOSED WITH___________________?(FILL THIS IN WITH A DIAGNOSIS THAT YOU ARE AWARE IS PART OF WHAT YOU ARE DEALING WITH)
2.HOW DO YOU HANDLE WORKING WITH YOUR CLIENTS WHO HAVE SIMILAR DIAGNOSIS TO MY OWN?

3.WHAT ARE YOUR PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS?
4.DO YOU PLACE A TIME LIMIT ON HOW LONG YOU WILL WORK WITH A CLIENT ? EX: I WILL ONLY WORK WITH YOU FOR ONE-TWO YEARS AND NO LONGER
5. HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN WORKING WITH CLIENTS WHOM HAVE THE SAME DIAGNOSIS AS ME?
6.HOW OFTEN DO YOU GO ON VACATION AND WHEN YOU DO DOES ANYONE COVER FOR YOU? DO YOU HAVE AN ANSWERING SERRVICE?
7.WHAT IS YOU PHILOSPHY?
8.DO YOU BELIEVE THAT A SURVIVORS EXPERIENCES ARE GENUINE?
9.HOW OFTEN DO YOU MEET WITH YOUR CLIENT AND DO YOU CHARGE THEM FOR PHONE CALLS?
10.DO YOU GIVE HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS TO YOUR CLIENTS?
11.HAVE YOU EVER DONE ANY TYPE OF PSYCHODRAMA WORK AND IF SO WHAT ARE YOU CREDENTIALS IN THIS AREA?
12.DO YOU MOSTLY USE TALK THERAPY OR DO YOU JUST GO WITH THE FLOW OF THE CLIENT?
13.HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT CLIENTS EXPRESSING THEIR ANGER IN A SAFE WAY AND IS IT OKAY FOR ME TO BE ANGRY HERE AND RELEASE MY FEELINGS AS NEEDED IN YOUR OFFICE?

PLEASE FEEL FREE TO USE WHAT YOU WOULD LIKE OF THESE QUESTIONS. I HAVE FOUND THEM TO BE VERY HELPFUL IN SEARCHING FOR A THERAPIST TO WORK WITH THE ISSUES I AM DEALING WITH IN MY OWN PERSONAL LIFE.
copyrights owned by ANGELMOM 2000