Therapy Stigma

ICOT: Kol hakavod! I applaud you!

Unfortunately, anonymouslysecret is correct and it is still a stigma, but more and more people do seek treatment, B”H. My husband knows a frum psychotherapist who sometimes talks about his practice (never reveals personal info, just generalities) and he says that certain circles in the frum communities are more open to it, while others are still in the dark ages about it and do not. And ICOT you are correct when you say that we all know people who are taking medication/seeing a therapist. It is more common than most people think.

There is a frum mental health referral organization called Relief that helps connect frum people to the right therapist/doctor who can help in whatever area necessary. You can google it. Anyone who is going through a tough time should not hesitate, but should seek the help that they need, and do not allow the societal stigma to prevent themselves from getting in control of the their problems and their lives.

I never take the posts on YW seriously but I hope mine here will encourage someone to take action. A long time ago I suffered through terrible abuse. For many years I kept convincing myself that I did not need counseling even though I knew very well that anyone in my situation would definitely need help in dealing with it. I finally took the plunge recently and called Relief for a referral and I thank Hashem for giving me the courage to do it. I expended so much mental energy trying to maintain a “normal” life when inside I was hurt, heartbroken and confused. I spent years burying my raging emotions that needed to be released. Therapy is hard work and sometimes you may want to turn back but the inner peace you achieve by letting go of the secrets and confronting the shame is priceless.

There is not only a stigma that is problematic – often GOOD therapists will not accept someone’s health insurance, i.e. GHI. For someone who truly needs help, that is a devastating expense to bear, among all his other problems. I also believe very strongly that bad therapy is worse than NO therapy.

NY Mom-

Yasher kochach for the kind words and the additional info.

Please consider posting the info on the “Support Groups” thread as well: http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/coffeeroom/topic/support-groups#post-111487

anonymouslysecret-

I certainly am not saying all issues can be treated with meds. You’re absolutely correct that problems can be caused by traumatic experiences as well. Abuse, post-traumatic stress disorder, grief, chronic pain and umpteen other things can also be a cause. Many times treatment involves a combination of therapy and medication. Sometimes different meds are tried with varying dosages. The degree of success varies greatly. I mentioned two specific disorders (depression and panic) because they are terribly debilitating and destructive, can often be treated with meds, and depression specifically was mentioned in the “Support Groups” thread.

joyous-

Great SN – using one’s own difficult past experience to help others is a great example of “making lemonade from lemons”.

oomis1105-

I don’t disagree about the cost of treatment, but like any health issue this has to be the highest priority.

tamazaball-

Jothar-

We can’t control people who may “stigmatize”, but we can ignore them when it comes to getting help for those who need it.

Kudos to Hamodia and Binah for their efforts.

How do you know if someone is getting the correct therapy?

i didnt read any of the responses, so please forgive me if i repeat something.

yes, there IS something we can do about it. we can stop worrying so much about what everyone else thinks/will think, and start doing what is best for ourselves. someone wont go out with you or your child because you are seeing a therapist? they you probably dont want them in your family anyway.

i know its been this way for a while, but when did we stop thinking about ourselves?

i took the time to read everyones posts. while i agree with everyone, i just want to put out there that therapy is not just about abuse or mental disorders. for example, children with ADHD or behavioral problems might very well benefit from therapy. therapy is not just about medication- that is PSYCHIATRY. we are talking about PSYCHOLOGY here too, and it is important to remember that. a couple suffering from marital problems may benefit from therapy, but it does not necessarily involve mental disorders or abuse.

i think part of the problem is that therapy is associated with the heavier things, like depression, schizophrenia, bpd, etc. people seem to forget that psychology is a multi-faceted field which deals with MANY things, like anorexia, post partum depression, ADHD, etc. which dont necessarily need medication to treat, but ALL need to be addressed quickly before the situation dives out of control.

“Do you see anything wrong with a frum single male therapist treating a married woman his age?”

Jewish courage:

I see everything wrong with it. And not just yichud itself.

Jewish Courage,

I would think that a phycologist in many ways should be compared to a teacher.

It is prohibited for an unmarried man to teach children because of the fear he may develop a relationship with the mothers who bring them to school (Even HaEzer Siman Chuf Beis) while there is some disscussion about when this halacha is applicable nowadays where we have school buses, I would think it would be quite logucal to infer that it is of sourse prohibited for an unmarried man to expressly treat an adult married woman especially since treatment usually nessacitates building a relationship.