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.
