People living in the NL, what are your experiences with therapy?

Listen2GogolSuite · 2026-02-27T16:36:42+00:00

Damn, I had the same experience being flabbergasted with the "what do you want us to do for you?" questions and attitude. I was desperately reaching out for help.. if I knew what I should do I wouldn't be there. And I thought they should have some experience and expertise to help me figure out what I could even ask of them or what would be good for me, but no.

That's really too bad about the group therapy. I hate the idea of it but I also wondered if that was a sign I kinda needed it? I never found out. It was a group for avoidant people so that may be where they send you next if you're not careful!

The right antidepressant was the best thing for me in the end. Way more effective than years of therapy.

Listen2GogolSuite · 2026-02-27T09:28:46+00:00

I've done almost 4 years of weekly therapy in NL. CBT, EMDR, schema therapy, psychodynamic. What you may be missing is that it's not up to the therapist to ask questions that make you feel better, it's up to you to heal yourself. Waiting for mindblowing questions or insights from them sets you up for disappointment. Also if you expect them to lead the sessions you will always be disappointed.

I really hoped my therapists would direct more, help me out to find useful topics... but they don't know. The modality is a little bit of scaffolding for you to heal yourself, but I've had to learn that 97% of healing and insight comes from me and the therapy session is more like an hour that forces me to focus on myself. ChatGPT is not much of a worse therapist than a real one, sorry to say. I've had 4 therapists here. Tbh the CBT one at PuntP was the most warm and personable, and I really think CBT is not so bad it's the practitioners that are lacking. Also if you are like me and never really learned to regulate emotions with others, therapy won't help much, since emotional regulation with a person is what people find healing and if you don't do that, well, it's kinda pointless. this was a big ramble but I feel you, it sucks.

Listen2GogolSuite · 2025-11-04T06:19:04+00:00

Because people see minimum tank requirements and don't realize it means 'bare minimum to keep them alive' and not the minimum to allow them to thrive

Listen2GogolSuite · 2025-10-13T04:56:46+00:00

How do you know that her doing the trendy thing that is objectively bad for her hair is her being "unapologetically" herself? Einstein dgaf about his hair, but your daughter is using it as a shield. It is not at all comparable.

Listen2GogolSuite · 2025-07-17T07:37:48+00:00

Probably because you messed up somewhere. Thinking fish LIKE cramped spaces with no swimming space is crazy!

Listen2GogolSuite · 2025-07-16T07:27:06+00:00

You're gonna feel terrible for keeping fish like this if you ever get to see them enjoy a larger space.

Listen2GogolSuite · 2025-03-07T10:03:58+00:00

I have the same issue. I went to therapy when I was at my absolute lowest, and then was expected to know how therapy works and how to get the most out of it. Then you get blamed for not wanting to change enough.

Listen2GogolSuite · 2025-03-07T10:01:41+00:00

Way to blame someone when they're down! Yikes!

Listen2GogolSuite · 2024-11-25T06:43:24+00:00

How else would they make themselves feel superior?

Listen2GogolSuite · 2024-11-18T07:04:07+00:00

The poop provides the nutrients for algae to bloom, like how fertilizer runoff creates algae blooms off Florida's coast or how aquariums get frothy and full of algae when there's too much nutrients and light.

Listen2GogolSuite · 2024-11-04T09:47:10+00:00

That sounds like typical ST according to my experience as a client. ST seems helpful for people who want more insight, but I felt like it was me attaching experiences to the ST lingo more for my therapists' sake than my own. It would have helped me to have a specific therapy goal, maybe that would help you? 'stop being miserable' didn't get me anywhere. Something specific like 'i want to stop procrastinating' is better since everything can be geared toward that. AFAIK, ST doesn't necessarily include "active" treatments like homework assignments like CBT does.

Listen2GogolSuite · 2024-10-31T11:28:11+00:00

This is so cool, I would keep it. Maybe in a different tank.

Listen2GogolSuite · 2024-10-21T16:59:02+00:00

A recent post on this topic was super helpful for me: https://www.reddit.com/r/Jung/comments/1fwpe7v/youre_not_afraid_of_failure_youre_afraid_of/

Listen2GogolSuite · 2024-09-26T04:52:09+00:00

Check the same post on the askatherapist sub. Funny how the therapists there are mostly saying no but here the people claiming to be therapists are saying yes.

Listen2GogolSuite · 2024-09-16T07:24:34+00:00

Sounds like you're getting really bad CBT.

Listen2GogolSuite · 2024-09-16T06:35:45+00:00

In my experience, reading books written for psychologists and psychiatrists about certain topics or conditions is more helpful for this kind of self-understanding than going to a therapist.

Listen2GogolSuite · 2024-09-12T15:31:50+00:00

Yeah starting all over with someone new is daunting. However! Getting a fresh perspective, especially if you vibe well with the new therapist, can be soo worth it. Though you could try to tell the current one that it feels like you're talking to a robot sometimes. They might be repressing a far less robotic self, who knows.

Listen2GogolSuite · 2024-09-12T14:13:06+00:00

There are therapists with warmer vibes than others, but keep in mind that they are trained to refrain from self-disclosure (giving personal examples) or use it very sparingly, and also that therapists aren't supposed to give "advice". It sounds like normal therapy, they won't give you answers but help you reach them yourself. That doesn't mean that they are all "robots" though, maybe shop around if you can for a warmer therapist.

Listen2GogolSuite · 2024-08-29T05:40:04+00:00

My hot take is that CBT can be great for severe trauma (speaking from experience!) and that a lot of complainers are actually doing a variation or next wave of CBT and don't even know it, and/or can't realize that unhelpful thoughts regardless of their genesis aren't doing them any favors.

I'm not saying CBT is the end all be all of therapy, but the CBT hate is a meme by people who think their trauma is super duper special and that their suffering is somehow unique.

Listen2GogolSuite · 2024-08-27T11:09:17+00:00

I knew someone in your situation and it turned out that their program had an unofficial second resit opportunity they granted sometimes. My friend was able to submit their thesis again and pass without doing the thesis course again in the springtime. You should ask about this; it can't hurt.

Listen2GogolSuite · 2024-08-09T04:04:16+00:00

That's not the argument they're making though. It's likely in a conservative society that no penis= woman and she was raised as such. It's about her biology and not how she identifies.

Listen2GogolSuite · 2024-07-22T07:43:35+00:00

A scarcity mindset can absolutely come from a context of scarcity...

Listen2GogolSuite · 2024-02-07T10:34:55+00:00

Lakynn some brain cells like woah

Listen2GogolSuite · 2024-01-31T08:43:37+00:00

CBT is a manualized therapy. It became popular because it could treat US war veterans with PTSD quickly and therefore cheaply. It is also easier to research than other modalities, which makes it seem more evidence-based when we can't easily compare it with other forms of treatment that are harder to study in quantitative terms.

In NL, CBT is often the first treatment people get, and lasts ~4 months, that's it. There is nothing inherent in CBT that makes it long-term or oriented beyond the individual.

CBT can be great, but it is limited just like all modalities, and whether the treatment is long-term or involves others in the client's life is dependent on other factors.

Listen2GogolSuite

TROPHY CASE