Depressed Girl Shocked At The Way Her Therapist Treated Her Gets Even More Surprised When It Works
Mental health issues like depression, anxiety and mood disorders are a serious topic. Thankfully they have become much more openly discussed and accepted in society, and those who are affected no longer have to suffer in silence. Treatment has become widely accessible for many, while methods and medications have proliferated, to the extent now that your therapist might even begin shooting you with a nerf gun!
This story, originally posted by Tumblr user anarchetypal, tells of her therapist Paul’s unusual, yet effective methods of making her speak less negatively about herself.
The post went viral as people appreciated his genius, out-of-the-box approach to addressing mental issues, which are incredibly complex. Treatment often involves a mix of medications and counselling, with each patient offering unique symptoms and challenges. Creative thinking of the kind that Paul displayed is essential if progress is to be made, and the hilarious and somewhat absurd nature of it only added to the fun! It is certainly refreshing for those who have experienced a therapist simply throwing some pills their way and being told to come back in a few months.
Scroll down below to read the story for yourself, and let us know of your own experiences in the comments. Would you appreciate therapy like this? Have you ever had a creative therapist with their own unique methods? Join the discussion!
When this girl went to see her therapist, she clearly did not expect to be shot at with a dart
People were quick to admire Paul
While others shared their own stories
like a modern day rhesus monkeys or pavlov's dogs! if it works it works. I shall now go home and dig out my kids nerf guns and there will be no more negative issues in the house. winner!
Or you'll put an eye out.....either or. ;)
I'm hoping the comment about using this with military vets was sarcastic. Let's shoot at people with potential PTSD because they were being shot at!
Veteran here. I have issues for sure but nerf guns isn't one of them. I was in Iraq so the urban environment itself is way more triggering. Especially if I see that he's using it as a form of CBT beforehand, it wouldn't be a problem. It might be for some, but again, effective communication would mitigate that risk.
Yeahhhh, I don't think shooting at people who've been shot at is a good idea. Although, maybe if you give them a Nerf gun too?
I went to a therapist once. What a waste of time. All she did was just sit there and when I asked her stuff like; "how can I help myself?", and "what can I do about this?" and that she would just look up and say, "only you can answer that". What the hell.?! That's what I'm asking you for help for. I soon left believing that I would be better sorting myself out and I never went back. I am now 100% better, never took drugs and never went to a shrink again. They are nothing but a waste of time, space and money.
Please don't say therapists are a waste of time, space and money. There are some shitty ones, trust me I've had my fair share of them, but not all of them are shitty. Comments like this can cause people who really need physiological help to not seek it. If all you needed was to sort yourself out you didn't need "drugs". However, many people do need antidepressants and pills because of chemical imbalances in their brains..
You got one bad therapist so they are all crap?
I had a similar experience with a therapist when I was a teenager. She would continuously yawn through our sessions and I'd ask her for help dealing with things and her responses would be just plain stupid and unhelpful (a bit like what you got). The last straw was when she charged me full rate for a ten-minute session. I actually confronted her about it and her response was "sometimes we have enough with a shorter session." Sure, but ten minutes? I complained about that to my mother and never went again. My mom talked to her and her explanation was that "teenagers are hard to get through to." Dammit! I was ASKING you for help and you did nothing! It's been almost twenty years since that and I still feel that she wasted my time and my mother's money.
The therapist telling your mother that "teenagers are hard to get through to" GEEZ.. that is her job! Why does she have that job? Or if she really can't get through teenagers.. Assuming this is the case and she would only be able to get through adults) why does she "treat" teenagers? If I hope you found a good therapist after this.
I'm sure you'll know better than I because the experience is yours. However, from how you told about it, it seems that the therapist was right after all. You cured yourself, and only you could know how....
That is really frustrating. I'm sorry she was so unhelpful! But there are some great therapists out there too. It is true that often people go into therapy or counseling thinking that they will give all the answers and just tell you a perfect solution to each problem, but there are a lot more layers than that. They do need to give you a helping hand and lead you to find your answers in a way that will continue to help in the future, not just in the moment. To help you learn how to help yourself eventually and not need a therapist all your life. But it doesn't sound like she approached that in a helpful way, of course you'll need more from her when just starting out.
Your therapist was right u did have to ask urself these questions- but I agrees with u. If want any help I dont JUST want prompts. I would want help to answer and fix those problems.
In my understanding it is only you that can come up with the solution, the job of the therapist is to help you find those solutions by talking to and listening to you, to help you find the answer(s)/solution(s) that work for you.
Right, because your one experience with a terrible therapist means they all suck.
Well a therapist is there to give you answers or to turn on a switch and magically make things go away. They are someone who is willing to listen and assist you by guiding you to discover the answers for yourself. After all, if you just want someone to tell you want to do then you can ask a friend. That way if things go wrong you can easily blame them.
So... she was right then? And instead of creating a situation where you were at risk of growing dependent on a service you didn't need, you were enforced to turn to and trust in your own strength and qualities? You even got a long term result, from just one appointment! One could also say you met a very, very good therapist...
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So you asked a therapist to help you, she said only you could help yourself, so you left her and helped yourself and now you are 100 % better... Seems to me she was right !! ;-p I'm glad you're good and I'm not trying to make fun of you, I'm just joking around, no offense intended :-) Have a nice day. :-)
like a modern day rhesus monkeys or pavlov's dogs! if it works it works. I shall now go home and dig out my kids nerf guns and there will be no more negative issues in the house. winner!
Or you'll put an eye out.....either or. ;)
I'm hoping the comment about using this with military vets was sarcastic. Let's shoot at people with potential PTSD because they were being shot at!
Veteran here. I have issues for sure but nerf guns isn't one of them. I was in Iraq so the urban environment itself is way more triggering. Especially if I see that he's using it as a form of CBT beforehand, it wouldn't be a problem. It might be for some, but again, effective communication would mitigate that risk.
Yeahhhh, I don't think shooting at people who've been shot at is a good idea. Although, maybe if you give them a Nerf gun too?
I went to a therapist once. What a waste of time. All she did was just sit there and when I asked her stuff like; "how can I help myself?", and "what can I do about this?" and that she would just look up and say, "only you can answer that". What the hell.?! That's what I'm asking you for help for. I soon left believing that I would be better sorting myself out and I never went back. I am now 100% better, never took drugs and never went to a shrink again. They are nothing but a waste of time, space and money.
Please don't say therapists are a waste of time, space and money. There are some shitty ones, trust me I've had my fair share of them, but not all of them are shitty. Comments like this can cause people who really need physiological help to not seek it. If all you needed was to sort yourself out you didn't need "drugs". However, many people do need antidepressants and pills because of chemical imbalances in their brains..
You got one bad therapist so they are all crap?
I had a similar experience with a therapist when I was a teenager. She would continuously yawn through our sessions and I'd ask her for help dealing with things and her responses would be just plain stupid and unhelpful (a bit like what you got). The last straw was when she charged me full rate for a ten-minute session. I actually confronted her about it and her response was "sometimes we have enough with a shorter session." Sure, but ten minutes? I complained about that to my mother and never went again. My mom talked to her and her explanation was that "teenagers are hard to get through to." Dammit! I was ASKING you for help and you did nothing! It's been almost twenty years since that and I still feel that she wasted my time and my mother's money.
The therapist telling your mother that "teenagers are hard to get through to" GEEZ.. that is her job! Why does she have that job? Or if she really can't get through teenagers.. Assuming this is the case and she would only be able to get through adults) why does she "treat" teenagers? If I hope you found a good therapist after this.
I'm sure you'll know better than I because the experience is yours. However, from how you told about it, it seems that the therapist was right after all. You cured yourself, and only you could know how....
That is really frustrating. I'm sorry she was so unhelpful! But there are some great therapists out there too. It is true that often people go into therapy or counseling thinking that they will give all the answers and just tell you a perfect solution to each problem, but there are a lot more layers than that. They do need to give you a helping hand and lead you to find your answers in a way that will continue to help in the future, not just in the moment. To help you learn how to help yourself eventually and not need a therapist all your life. But it doesn't sound like she approached that in a helpful way, of course you'll need more from her when just starting out.
Your therapist was right u did have to ask urself these questions- but I agrees with u. If want any help I dont JUST want prompts. I would want help to answer and fix those problems.
In my understanding it is only you that can come up with the solution, the job of the therapist is to help you find those solutions by talking to and listening to you, to help you find the answer(s)/solution(s) that work for you.
Right, because your one experience with a terrible therapist means they all suck.
Well a therapist is there to give you answers or to turn on a switch and magically make things go away. They are someone who is willing to listen and assist you by guiding you to discover the answers for yourself. After all, if you just want someone to tell you want to do then you can ask a friend. That way if things go wrong you can easily blame them.
So... she was right then? And instead of creating a situation where you were at risk of growing dependent on a service you didn't need, you were enforced to turn to and trust in your own strength and qualities? You even got a long term result, from just one appointment! One could also say you met a very, very good therapist...
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
So you asked a therapist to help you, she said only you could help yourself, so you left her and helped yourself and now you are 100 % better... Seems to me she was right !! ;-p I'm glad you're good and I'm not trying to make fun of you, I'm just joking around, no offense intended :-) Have a nice day. :-)