Therapy doesn’t work

[Anonymous 1]

My teen suffers from depression and anxiety. She is home from college now because of the virus, so it helps to keep an eye on her, but I don’t know what to do. She has been dealing with it for a long time and hasn’t gotten better, and it’s really affecting her in all areas of her life. We’ve tried therapy and that didn’t help. She felt it was completely useless and honestly nothing came of it except thousands of dollars I spent on it. Which would be ok if it was actually helping. I’m just at a loss and don’t want to continue seeing her suffer.

[Deleted User 203]

Maybe sit down and ask her what it is she wants and expects from therapy?

Does she want a cure-all? A "fix" to her problems and for it all to go away? Or does she just want to be able to talk out things with another person who will be honest and objective....things she doesn't feel comfortable saying to you or others?

If she's interested in other forms of therapy, check your local area to see if there's art or music therapies. If there is, maybe this will interest her.

[Valentina327]

Had she tried more than one therapist? That's such an intimate relationship and its vital that you're completely as ease. I know several people who tried more than one until they found a good fit. We don't click with everyone.

Is there a particular passion that she has? Maybe enroll her in art classes if she envoys drawing, creative writing class of she likes to write. Something to engage her that she'll look forward to doing.

Good luck to both of you and I hope you find something that will help her get past this. ❤

[KendallsMom]

I'm not sure about depression, but I've suffered with anxiety all my life. Therapy never worked for me. As a matter of fact, talking to a therapist made me even more anxious.

I wish her the best.

[Anonymous 2]

My teen suffers from depression and anxiety. She is home from college now because of the virus, so it helps to keep an eye on her, but I don’t know what to do. She has been dealing with it for a long time and hasn’t gotten better, and it’s really affecting her in all areas of her life. We’ve tried therapy and that didn’t help. She felt it was completely useless and honestly nothing came of it except thousands of dollars I spent on it. Which would be ok if it was actually helping. I’m just at a loss and don’t want to continue seeing her suffer.

If your newly home college student is a teen (19 is the highest) and all this is going on and you're having to keep eyes on her, there's more to the story.

[Anonymous 1]

My teen suffers from depression and anxiety. She is home from college now because of the virus, so it helps to keep an eye on her, but I don’t know what to do. She has been dealing with it for a long time and hasn’t gotten better, and it’s really affecting her in all areas of her life. We’ve tried therapy and that didn’t help. She felt it was completely useless and honestly nothing came of it except thousands of dollars I spent on it. Which would be ok if it was actually helping. I’m just at a loss and don’t want to continue seeing her suffer.

If your newly home college student is a teen (19 is the highest) and all this is going on and you're having to keep eyes on her, there's more to the story.

Huh?

[Anonymous 1]

Had she tried more than one therapist? That's such an intimate relationship and its vital that you're completely as ease. I know several people who tried more than one until they found a good fit. We don't click with everyone.

Is there a particular passion that she has? Maybe enroll her in art classes if she envoys drawing, creative writing class of she likes to write. Something to engage her that she'll look forward to doing.

Good luck to both of you and I hope you find something that will help her get past this. ❤

She’s tried a few therapists and no luck yet. She does enjoy creative writing, maybe that could be an option. Thank you

[Anonymous 1]

Maybe sit down and ask her what it is she wants and expects from therapy?

Does she want a cure-all? A "fix" to her problems and for it all to go away? Or does she just want to be able to talk out things with another person who will be honest and objective....things she doesn't feel comfortable saying to you or others?

If she's interested in other forms of therapy, check your local area to see if there's art or music therapies. If there is, maybe this will interest her.

She wants to not feel the way she does anymore. So I guess a fix to the problems which obviously won’t happen overnight, but this all has been going on for some time.

[mater-three]

Is she medicated? Contrary to what most here will tell you, antidepressants can make a huge improvement. It took a genetic testing to determine the right medicine but I’ve felt more human than I’ve ever felt before.

I am in therapy as well. My therapist is wonderful and a perfect fit for me. It took a while to find the right therapist. Two therapists isn’t really a lot. Therapy works but it’s hard work. Some people expect depression to just go away because they talk to a therapist. It doesn’t work like that.

[Anonymous 3]

Therapy works great for me but it took me about a year to find the right therapist. all the other ones just wanted to put me on medication and I was not about that I wanted tools that could help myself without being put on medication. what I do when I'm feeling anxious or extremely depressed the first thing you do is I go outside to get some fresh air I get some sunshine it starts to make me feel better. And then if I still need it I talk to somebody like my best friend because she goes to the same things that I do. and then if I still need something more than that I just go to my room and I'm by myself and I read a book or I do a craft project or something like that just to try to get my mind off of whatever is bothering me. and if that doesn't work I can still call my therapist even though I do not go on a regular basis anymore hugs to her. her first step is trying to figure out what helps her and if that means that she has to go to 7 different therapists to find the right one then that's what she needs to do