
                    Psychotherapy and choosing a therapist
                                       
   Individual psychotherapy can be useful in some cases, but it's
   extremely important to get a therapist who's right for you. A few
   things to take note of when selecting a therapist:
     * A good therapist is one who lets you tell your story without
       forcing his/her own needs/projections onto it, one who doesn't try
       to fit you into a slot right away. If you see someone and they say
       right away, first meeting, "You're an X," be suspicious.
     * A good therapist is someone you can trust, someone you feel good
       talking to.
     * A good therapist can accept your self-injury without condoning it
       and is willing to help you work toward reducing/stopping it when
       you're ready. Self-harm is a coping mechanism that sometimes
       prevents worse things from happening. In that, it's good. But it's
       a maladaptive coping mechanism. It's one with negative
       consequences that doesn't work very well. Your therapist should
       understand this, understand that you can't just say "It's bad,
       stop now." It's meeting a need, and unless you find some other way
       to meet that need before you stop, you're going to end up in worse
       shape than before.
       
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References

   1. file://localhost/usr/home/llama/Web/psych/injury.html
