What do you guys think about therapy?

I tried it with three different therapists, all they do is listen while you talk the poison out, sometimes they make you questions to keep you talking, but that's all. Plus, THEY YAWN ALL THE TIME, which drives me insane. Getting a voice recorder and making some tapes about your issues will do you better than any yawning woman with a bullshit degree.

 

For a therapy to work , you must have a connection with the therapist (you feel you can trust him) and by what you said , they are … dont go to them they are usless . Try to fo to a women therapist . They are less scary and more listening.

 

It’s helpful overall, as long as you don’t mind spending the money on it. But don’t expect to talk to some genius, they are just regular people, too

 

Overall, I'm for it. You can read my experience below.

I have had three therapists in my life, and I saw them all for different reasons. Really, though, looking back, the reason why I'm here was among the clusterfuck of things happening to me, or with me or being done by me. This fap or addiction stuff, whatever you want to call it, isn't just some isolated habit or algorithm within us. Some things spring from it, and some things lead to it.

I saw my first therapist because I was unfaithful to a lovely girlfriend I had after high school, and I would also just rage out. The rage part pretty much went away in time. However, fapping, cheating, (remember AOL chats???)--all of that just seemed to be symptom of a young man with too much testosterone, a body full of hormones. My therapist was very intellectually interested in me and we had some great conversations, but he didn't push me very much or try to uncover many rocks, and so a long summer trip ended that relationship. In fact, I remember him asking me to send a letter on my way, just to let him know how I was, and I recall just sort of smiling, arrogantly, thinking that I'd spent enough time with him and really didn't need much of anything from him. (Looking back, he was a good man, and I think our conversations were more formative than I had realized at the time.)

My second therapist (a psychiatrist) came about because I started having panic attacks. For a while my rage seemed under control, but then I began to have panic attacks, and I would get into these rage fits as a response. Broke bones in my hands several times, and only learned about it on, say, the seventh time. I had so much anxiety and I could barely get anything done except when I smoked weed, but then smoking weed started to seem unhelpful and I would get even worse panic attacks when I smoked. He was very anti-weed and it seemed to come from his clinical background. He prescribed medication in the form of an anti-depressant and anti-anxiety combo. We started with hour long sessions. He was hell bent on meditation and buddhism. To him, everything was resolvable if we could medically suppress the panic attacks, and use these eastern types of techniques in order to gain some distance from the panic. There was certainly some progress. Some of the insights have lasted to this day. Many related to more particular aspects of my life and my relationship with my family. However, he projected a type of trajectory professionally upon me. I didn't appreciate this and felt he didn't understand me. Again, I never really viewed my fapping as an anxiety response because my panic attacks seemed to spell out differently and seemingly destructively. In fact, I brought it up once in a session, and I said that I fapped three times per day (I didn't even bother to tell him about the other ways I got down), and he simply responded with this confused look and said, "do you think that is necessary?" That was done. I also brought up other questions related to (p-induced) "sexuality." No, to him, none of these things were actual rpbolems.I never thought that spending 3 hours fapping to exhaustion per night before a graduate school seminar was a problem. I thought it was just a part of me, and perhaps some bad time management. After all, I didn't discuss it with anyone, and almost any other man acknowledged that sometimes you have to just fap something off.

My third therapist was during the pandemic. My drinking got out of hand. I was seeing camgirls and blowing away a nest egg I had accumulated. I went full sober off the booze for 5 months and it gave me a really great insight into drinking, it's role in my life, and the greatness of not drinking and living sober, or more sober. We discussed fapping, sexual addiction, etc. He really got me into examining a narrative within myself, and this was good. However, I relapsed when something tragic happened. To him my fapping was just a symptom of my drinking, and if I could tackle drinking, then I could tackle fapping. After the relapse, things came together and I got back on track after sometime and we ended our therapeutic relationship.

Now, I'm a very minimal drinker, one who doesn't like it much, and that's okay. But in time it became apparent that my fapping and p-addiction, among other behaviors related to it, were coming back. So, in a way, I'm grateful for the techniques he gave me with respect to tackling drinking, and I'm applying them more to the problem that started when I was so young. But, like another poster said here, seeking out a specialist is really the move. This last therapist was not a specialist in this area, and he was rather limited, hence I wouldn't go back to him for my own issue. But I would highly recommend him to someone with other issues that were more aligned with his stronger points.

 

I tried a lot of different therapists before I found one that worked for me, but when I did it made an immense difference in my life overall.

 

I agree with you that God is the best pastoral caregiver.
I ve had therapy for 2,5 years and I ve had a lot of frustrations during that time because of how she approached my issues.

This month I decided to do a 10 days fast and some of my issues were solved because of that.
I guess I could have stopped the payed therapy a year ago.
But I don't say she hasn't helped me at all.
But overall I'm not content with the results because of the therapy.

 

Each to their own I guess. I've done therapy since 2016 and I wish I'd started a lot earlier. I'd recommend it. Choose the therapist carefully, as already mentioned, and make sure there is chemistry. If there isn't then I'd suggest trying another. I was lucky enough to have a great relationship with my past one and my current one. I'm really thankful for that. Finding a non-judgemental space is really important for me as I have shame issues from childhood.

 

Only if people can grasp the gravity of your situation and the context surrounding it. For example: could 28 year old female therapist successfully treat a 45 year old man that is coming to grips with a divorce that has turned his entire family against him? Or, could a happily married 50 year old man help a young single mom with an abusive ex-partner through her mental health? These people live in different realities. Unless a therapist has a stack of sticky old Playboys or shelves of pornography with degenerate/illegal material, they aren't going to understand. They'll give you an empty platitude and government sponsored happy pills.

 

I had a bad experience with it. If someone is like a sex addiction therapist, odds are they're a little weird. Committing your whole life to this shit? I'm sure there are good ones out there.

Mine tried like new age body awareness to try to release trauma or release urges. All I wanted was someone to talk to. Only spend your money if you get a recommendation from someone you trust. Otherwise, conversations with people going through the same stuff will help you with the shame and to heal.

 

Hey! There is certainly no better way to deal with internal strife. No drug will help as much as therapy. I have been suffering from anxiety and depression for a very long time. I smoked a lot of weed, thinking it would help. But without success. I felt completely alone and didn't know what to do. I went to a psychologist who recommended that I go to the therapist at https://aztherapyquest.com/ because it will help me get rid of these problems better. That's how it was. That psychologist's advice was very valuable. Due to the therapy sessions, I get rid of my depression. Even so far, I go to therapy, and every time I leave, I feel like a new person full of beautiful emotions. I recommend everyone who has internal problems to do so.

 

1/ if you are honest about wanting to look for the truth and be a better human for you and others go for it
2/ as long as you find someone that has the right "ping pong" with you... it might a good listener, or someone that you can listen to... i don't know...
3/ if you have things you can't talk about with people it might be better to start unpacking it with a psy before you are able to bring it to the table with friends and whatnot.

 

LOL. mine had an intense stare... haha... very neutral stare... i think that's the best.

 

Therapy is expensive where I live. And I've heard some accouts throughout about therapists who have "failed" their clients. Some therapists dismissed or minimized issues that clients had. And some therapists don't agree with clients. Some therapists refuse to talk about certain issues with clients. Some therapists give advice or suggestions that don't help clients. Therapists, in my area, usually had to take courses in psychology or study certain social theories that may not be accurate or applicable for certain clients.

Basically, therapy is a risky investment for me.

 

I've seen two since my wife caught me. Both dont think I'm a real addict. I just have a high libodo they say and since my wife's is low I just used porn to fill the void. The last time i used porn was over a year ago. But I miss it sometimes. Both therapist think a man relieving himself with porn is acceptable. As long as it doesn't interfere with his life why not. Well for one thing it totally crushed my wife when she found out. She cant trust me anymore and that the worst part of the whole thing to me.
Save your money and talk to a priest or clergy.

 

I have therapy twice a month and I find it helps me get out of my head. Sometimes it's good to run ideas with someone and ask advice from a trained professional. It's good to find someone who is patient and will hear you out. I would recommend getting one if you have insurance, if not you could pay for a session every once in a while when you need it because it's good for your mental health.

 

Sorry you had that experience with therapy. Sounds like perhaps you didn't find the right one who understood where your relationship is at, which is likely that your wife has betrayal trauma from finding out that she can't trust the person closest to her in the world in whom she has placed so much trust. I get it, did the same thing here. The first therapist I used was so-so and not that helpful. The one I am using now is very good and has experience with the whole sex compulsion/addiction issue. We are also now in couples therapy which has been very helpful, especially for her. A safe place to process all this. I beg to differ on the recommendation of a priest or clergy on this issue. Most have not been trained in this area, and if you get one that thinks purity and shaming is the way to go, that could be very damaging.