Counseling

[BeccaLynn]

I so well know how overwhelming it can be when you know you need help from someone who is experienced with OCD and is compassionate and understanding. I aslo understand about not having the financial means to search for the right counselor, or to even afford to see him/her if you did know who to go to. I went to a Christian counseling service that had a sliding scale fee. I ended up owing money I didn't have, and the experience was not one that I look back upon as a good one. I've seen and talked to people, even a pastor, who just didn't understand. I was afraid to open up to anyone, and often when I did, I didn't get the help I really needed. I do remember a person who used to sign in under something like slgmuller (I don't know if that's exactly correct, but it's something along those lines), and she would end her posts with the name Shannon. She talked about a pastor she talked to by phone who understood scrupulosity very well. It sounded as if he counseled by phone, but I don't know about any fees or anything. Shannon was positive about her experience with the counseling. I'll try to see if I can find her post and will let you know if I do. Presently, I'm going to a pastor friend who is very understanding and helpful. I've known him my entire life, but have just recently been willing to receive counseling from him because I was so afraid of being misled. My thoughts seemed to be what was real, not what he was telling me. I prayed for help, and God had provided it for a long time. I guess it was me who needed to get to the place to where I could receive it.

Rebecca

 

[Jayangel81]

Im happy to hear that youre in a good place. I think the most important thing is to get someone who knows what youre going through. And imo somene who is Christian, esp since alot of our OCD is faith related.

I used to go to those "sliding scale" counseling clinics.. I have had horrible experiances.. I have a habbit of missing some sessions in the past I had one docter who claimed to not work there anymore lol...

God led me to a personal phsycho therapist (Christian)who has a degree in medicine and phychotherapy, I just thank God my family can pay for it


I know its a bit closed minded to say this but i have heard bad experiances with Church counseling, Im happy you found one in their right minds

I wish you the best of luck

brother,in Christ

 

[OptimisticSmile]

It is difficult because even proffessionals dont always understand this. My experience with a christian counselor was awful. she almost immediatly said "dont worry you are saved" and I thought how misleading this is that someone would assure someone else of their salvation without even knowing the person or their beliefs. that could deceive a non-christian into thinking he or she is ok.

each week she would go over the basics of assurenace and salvation and I was basically anticipating what she would say or do next. One time she went out and got several snacks and drinks and she told me to pick one as a gift. I was thinking "shes going to say thats what salvation is , us simply taking the gift that God offers" and that is wahat she said.

each week I would leave and she would think I was assured but she was oblivious that I was not and she even acted shocked when I came back the next time and said I was still doubting everything. never in all of that did she think about OCD . Instead she thought i might be bi-polar and needed medication but I made it clear to her that the depression was not a normal occurance for me and that it came secondary to the doubting and anxiety. In otherwards I was trying to tell her that my depression was the respons to the thoughts and feelings I was having.

I was afraid to really open up about the OCD in fear that I would not get a diagnosis which would mean the thoughts were true (thats not exactly true just a thought at the time). what I really wanted at that point in therapy were medications to make the thoughts stop I believed I was condemned and that medications would be the only way I could live.

one other thing. at the time I was scared that i might harm myself and so I meantioned that . she ask the right questions about that and instead was like "your not really going to kill yourself are you" and then we just moved on to something else. there were no questions about how often I had suicidal thoughts, wether I had a plan and the means to carry out those plans. that was dangerous because at the time I thought of suicide almost daily, and I would go on walks with my dog thinking "im not sure if this is safe because I could hang myself with his leash.

in sum m,y experience was just like talking to any other christian. my counselor was more like a grandmother than a proffesional. this all made it worse because I thought conseling was my last hope and even that was hopeless.

now if you read this dont avoid going to a counselor. with this issue it is important to know if the counselor of choice understands OCD and scrupulosity. My counselor was not liscenced but was in the licensing process. In otherwords she was inexperienced and still learning. I will her well.

 

[kaykay637]

What everyone has said here is sooooo true about finding a counselor with understanding of OCD. I think it's important to pray and ask the Lord to send you to someone or send someone into your life who can counsel you.

When my 16 son died, I had some real OCD spikes (but I didn't recognize them as such at the time.) I just kept crying out to God to send someone who could counsel us. It was about 2 years later that the Lord brought a wonderful Christian counselor (licensed professional) into my life with marvelous understanding and recognition of OCD.

If one counselor is not the right one, don't give up if you think you need counsel. Keep on seeking God about it.

 

[BeccaLynn]

Oops!!! I actually posted this incorrectly. I meant to respond to Drurygirl's question about seeing a counselor. Thanks to everyone for your responses though. I guess what I said sounded a little weird since it looked like I was posting my own thread. Thanks again guys!

Rebecca

 

[Heavenheart81]

 

[ObsessedButBlessed]

Becca - is it Larry Snapp? He was a Christian pastor that I worked with that I counseled with by phone for a few sessions.

 

[BeccaLynn]

Sad,

I looked up the previous post I had referred to so I could hopefully get the pastor's name or organization, but it wasn't listed. I'm unsure if it was Larry Snapp, but the counseling did seem to help Shannon (the young lady who began the post). Thanks for your response!

Rebecca

 

[gracechick]

Did you look at DeliveranceNow.com ? I came across it googling for something else.

 

[BeccaLynn]

No, but maybe Drurygirl (the one I thought I was actually posting a response to instead of posting a whole new thread ) will hopefully get some ideas of how to go about finding a counselor with all of the suggestions that have been posted. Thanks for your response.

Rebecca

 

[gracealone]

It is difficult because even proffessionals dont always understand this. My experience with a christian counselor was awful. she almost immediatly said "dont worry you are saved" and I thought how misleading this is that someone would assure someone else of their salvation without even knowing the person or their beliefs. that could deceive a non-christian into thinking he or she is ok.

each week she would go over the basics of assurenace and salvation and I was basically anticipating what she would say or do next. One time she went out and got several snacks and drinks and she told me to pick one as a gift. I was thinking "shes going to say thats what salvation is , us simply taking the gift that God offers" and that is wahat she said.

each week I would leave and she would think I was assured but she was oblivious that I was not and she even acted shocked when I came back the next time and said I was still doubting everything. never in all of that did she think about OCD . Instead she thought i might be bi-polar and needed medication but I made it clear to her that the depression was not a normal occurance for me and that it came secondary to the doubting and anxiety. In otherwards I was trying to tell her that my depression was the respons to the thoughts and feelings I was having.

I was afraid to really open up about the OCD in fear that I would not get a diagnosis which would mean the thoughts were true (thats not exactly true just a thought at the time). what I really wanted at that point in therapy were medications to make the thoughts stop I believed I was condemned and that medications would be the only way I could live.

one other thing. at the time I was scared that i might harm myself and so I meantioned that . she ask the right questions about that and instead was like "your not really going to kill yourself are you" and then we just moved on to something else. there were no questions about how often I had suicidal thoughts, wether I had a plan and the means to carry out those plans. that was dangerous because at the time I thought of suicide almost daily, and I would go on walks with my dog thinking "im not sure if this is safe because I could hang myself with his leash.

in sum m,y experience was just like talking to any other christian. my counselor was more like a grandmother than a proffesional. this all made it worse because I thought conseling was my last hope and even that was hopeless.

now if you read this dont avoid going to a counselor. with this issue it is important to know if the counselor of choice understands OCD and scrupulosity. My counselor was not liscenced but was in the licensing process. In otherwords she was inexperienced and still learning. I will her well.

Hi OP,
I swear you are related to me sometimes because of the things you say.
Boy do I agree with you about this assumption that many Christian counselors or Pastors can have that the OCD person just "doesn't really get it". It's as if we haven't ever cracked open a Bible or understood the basics of our salvation. So then you end up with all these condescending/ prosaic lessons on how a person is saved, then a pat on the back, "well there you go buddy you can lay all your fears to rest now." It's hard not to laugh how you anticipated her next move.
Someone once shared with me that "all you need to do, Mitzi, is just pray and turn it all over to God and quit worrying". I remember wanting to smack myself upside the head and say something quite sarcastic... like.. "really!?!you're kidding!?! I never thought of that!! "
It really does take a therapist trained in the use of exposure/response therapy to instruct the OCD'er in stategies that actually works.
I started cracking up when I read your statement about the possibility that you might hang yourself with the dog leash. I went through similar thoughts of suicide that weren't related at all to depression, with this last flare but rather OCD in nature. It wasn't that I actually wanted to kill myself but rather that I might lose control and do it. One day in particular the thought - "what if you just go into the bathroom and swallow a bunch of pills even though you don't want to", popped into my head. So then for awhile I didn't think it would be safe for me to be alone.
Any way therapy that reassures or provides counter statements to my OCD hasn't been helpful to me but rather counterproductive in that it gives those questions a measure of validity that they don't deserve.
Loved this post OP!! T
Mitzi