Online Therapy - serious question

[decem]

hey fuckers.. do any of you know of any websites or online services that provide therapy over the internet or through e-mail in some fashion?

something where you keep some journal or log or in some way, shape or form communicate what you want to talk about to some accredited (or whatever they're called) therapist without ever meeting face to face...

this would be pretty much ideal.. as i.. uh.. i mean my uh.. my friend.. has no fucking free time whatsoever..


so do ya?

 

[Warik]

I don't know if that exists, but quite frankly I've always found therapists to be BS. Just another "doctor" looking to prescribe medicine. 100 years ago we didn't have any of this shit and everyone got along fine... suddenly we have a billion drugs for every imaginable problem and 9 out of 10 people are on one or more of them because of "problems."

Find a friend online and talk to him instead. Chances are he'll give more of a shit about helping you. I've always found that the help you get from other people is the same help you'd get from yourself if you could think about things without any bias. It's a logic thing.

-Warik

 

[BoneCruncher]

I don't know if that exists, but quite frankly I've always found therapists to be BS. Just another "doctor" looking to prescribe medicine. 100 years ago we didn't have any of this shit and everyone got along fine... suddenly we have a billion drugs for every imaginable problem and 9 out of 10 people are on one or more of them because of "problems."

Find a friend online and talk to him instead. Chances are he'll give more of a shit about helping you. I've always found that the help you get from other people is the same help you'd get from yourself if you could think about things without any bias. It's a logic thing.

-Warik

100 years ago people didnt have problems? please!

I agree friends can be helpfull but seriously these people are trained to help, if someone is seriously depressed, suicidal or has other unresolved mental issues I dont see any harm in speaking to a therapist.

 

[havoc]

Therapy, Psychology in my opinion is for folks who don't have a stable mind, thats obvious of course, you can solve your own problems Decem, don't use a fool who has the same if not worse issues than you do. Solve the shit yourself, you speak about Buddhist principles yet display need for therapy, does not make much sense to me.
Let me guess some responses, "so are you saying one cannot follow the buddhist lifestyle and not have problems" Answer: If one is truly following a proper lifestyle then your mind should be clear, leaving you with balance and knowing that your so called issues and problems that you deem need therapy are just of bunch of shit that you have caused by yourself. I just think you can do it without therapy bro, you are intelligent, use what you have. peace

 

[CrimsonKing]

I've seen a few therapist that offer on-line therapy so it is out there.. its prob not covered through insurance that way though?.... IMHO, it depends on what problem you are trying to solve but, there are some great books out there that can give great guidance.. WHAT? too lazy to read you say? well then get www.booksontape.com


drop me a PM if you want

 

[WODIN]

You need to start tokin some herb twisted metal.

 

[Warik]

These are very broad and rather silly statements.

Yet, sadly true.

100 years ago people didnt have problems? please!

*yawn* I love when people have absolutely nothing to validate their arguments and resort to taking everything literally and thinking it's a fallacy in the opponent's argument. OBVIOUSLY PEOPLE 100 YEARS AGO AND PEOPLE THROUGHOUT THE EXISTENCE OF MANKIND HAVE HAD PROBLEMS! I'm speaking in relative terms.

Let's look at this logically.

Fact 1: People today have "problems."
Fact 2: People today go to therapists to take care of their "problems."
Fact 3: Therapists think that the problems are soooo bad, that the people need drugs or else they're fucked.
Fact 4: Since people 100 years ago didn't have these drugs, then everyone with problems 100 years ago went psycho.
Fact 5: Everyone with problems 100 years ago didn't go psycho.
Conclusion: Just because a therapist thinks someone needs drugs doesn't mean he does.

I know someone who was suffering from depression and the "doctor" prescribed some stupid ass drugs. Side effects were headaches and crankiness. I told this person: "those drugs are bullshit. Just get a job and you'll feel better." What happened?

The person was depressed because she was unemployed for months. She got a job, left the stupid drugs, and is now a very happy person. Where's my fucking Ph. D?

I agree friends can be helpfull but seriously these people are trained to help, if someone is seriously depressed, suicidal or has other unresolved mental issues I dont see any harm in speaking to a therapist.

I don't know about you, but if I were suicidal the last thing I'd want to see is an outrageous bill for help a friend would have given me for free.

-Warik

 

[BoneCruncher]

*yawn* I love when people have absolutely nothing to validate their arguments and resort to taking everything literally and thinking it's a fallacy in the opponent's argument.

*yawn*

OBVIOUSLY PEOPLE 100 YEARS AGO AND PEOPLE THROUGHOUT THE EXISTENCE OF MANKIND HAVE HAD PROBLEMS!
I'm speaking in relative terms.


*yawn*

Let's look at this logically.

ok Lets!

Fact 1: People today have "problems."

Correct! good logic my friend!

Fact 2: People today go to therapists to take care of their "problems."

Some people do, correct!

Fact 3: Therapists think that the problems are soooo bad, that the people need drugs or else they're fucked.

Huh? hold up, this is fact? Therapists dont soley rely on medication, have you ever been to a therapist? do you even know what the process involves? I had a major life threatening accident when I was younger and had to spend quite some time in hospital. When I got out I was messed up, I went to a therapist, no drugs were involved. They didnt cure me but it did help

Fact 4: Since people 100 years ago didn't have these drugs, then everyone with problems 100 years ago went psycho.
Fact 5: Everyone with problems 100 years ago didn't go psycho.
Conclusion: Just because a therapist thinks someone needs drugs doesn't mean he does.

Im not even going to bother, this isnt logical its just rambling.

I know someone who was suffering from depression and the "doctor" prescribed some stupid ass drugs. Side effects were headaches and crankiness. I told this person: "those drugs are bullshit. Just get a job and you'll feel better." What happened?

The person was depressed because she was unemployed for months. She got a job, left the stupid drugs, and is now a very happy person. Where's my fucking Ph. D?

I know a mechanic who broke my car when I took it to get fixed, therefore all mechanics are fucked and should be killed.. Wheres my fucking Ph.D? thats about the level of your logic.

 

[decem]

thx guys..


warik.. i see where you're coming from man.. but as bonecruncher said.. there are people that have been schooled and trained to at least recognize patterns of the human mind and develop a resolution to stop such patterns from arising.. also.. i'm not going to take any prescriptions or otc meds...

wodin... me + herb = puke

havoc.. i feel you.. but the thing is man.. there are a few things that my mind does that i simply cannot figure out.. i have overcome depression on my own and i have overcome many obsessive tendencies on my own..

i have always been quite aware of myself and my feelings and my thoughts.. when i'm angry.. i sit and trace my anger back to what thought or action provoked it.. and by doing so my anger is dissipated.. if i feel hate or love.. i know where it comes from and why.. i.e. watering the positive seeds and forcing the negative seeds into remission..

but when it comes to the current situation.. i've been trying to figure myself out for over two years.. it comes to the point where i grab my head out of frustration (yes i know where that comes from and what waters it.. but i still get frustrated fucker) because my mind races a million reps/sec trying to find the answers to the dilemna..

i think that if i see a therapist, and i'll only see someone who holds their doctorate not some ignorant turd that just got their degree and can't understand the theories and philosophies i spew forth, and i give them enough detail.. (perhaps a detailed journal of thoughts regarding the topic at hand which i might just be keeping and might just be updating every other day or so).. that they'd be able to use the experience and expertise at hand and say "you're doing this because you think this" or "you're simply following a well documented, commonly displayed behavior/mental pattern of a 25 y/o male in this situation... i've seen it a hundred times.. just do this".. blah blah blah..

when it comes to depression (although i have used drugs before.. but i don't think i will again).. obsessive-compulsive disorders.. coping with loss of loved ones.. dealing with lifes stressors.. etc etc etc.. i can do all that on my own.. without a therapist or drugs.. but when it comes to this bullshit.. i need someone to tell me why i think/feel this way or that.. and why it changes when this or that happens..

 

[Y_lifter]

Here ya go bitch...

http://www.metanoia.org/imhs/

 

[Warik]

Huh? hold up, this is fact? Therapists dont soley rely on medication, have you ever been to a therapist? do you even know what the process involves? I had a major life threatening accident when I was younger and had to spend quite some time in hospital. When I got out I was messed up, I went to a therapist, no drugs were involved. They didnt cure me but it did help

Did I say that therapists rely solely on medication? You again take everything literally in hopes of finding a flaw in my argument. Why do you think there are a shitload of kids in elementary and high schools taking medication for A.D.D.? "Oh, your kid sleeps in class, he must have ADD! Prescription!" If unqualified therapists were the minority, not the majority, then we would not be seeing shit like this going on.

I know a mechanic who broke my car when I took it to get fixed, therefore all mechanics are fucked and should be killed.. Wheres my fucking Ph.D? thats about the level of your logic.

I'm afraid you're sadly mistaken. Your level of logic seems to be putting words into someone else's mouth. Did I ever say that all therapists are fucked and should be killed? Hardly.

Also, most mechanics DO NOT break cars. If MOST mechanics broke cars, then I wouldn't go to a mechanic to get my car fixed. People go to therapists for help and many leave with a hole in their pockets and a new dependency on drugs... some help, eh?

-Warik

 

[Y_lifter]

AND....

http://www.find-a-therapist.com/onlinecounseling/etherapy.htm


http://www.socialworker.com/onlinetherapist.htm

http://www.myonlinetherapist.net/


That last one is scarry....

 

[smallmovesal]

warik, 100 years ago people were locked up in asylums for having tuberculosis.

i don't think going "old school" is necessarily the way to go.

maybe try going through some real life shit and needing to talk to someone before you sit in judgement.

decem, i've seen online therapy offered. check into if your insurance will cover it... and maybe see if a therapist in town that your *doc* recommends will do things that way.

i just don't trust the credentials of online psychologists necesarily... perhaps i'm just "old school". heehee.


warik, do you bank online or pay/deposit through an atm?

 

[Warik]

warik, do you bank online or pay/deposit through an atm?

Wow... that came out of nowhere. Why do you inquire?

I check my balances/do transfers online.

For bill payment and such I try to use whatever online method is offered. If none is offered, I use phone. Very very very very rarely will I write a check and pay that damn post office monopoly for an overpriced stamp.

Deposits I go into bank to the teller. I know a couple of them and they're pretty nice.

I wish I could make deposits online... the less work I have to do, the better. Going to the bank takes a good 10-15 min out of my Fridays - even more when the classic episode of "walk in, see empty line, go fill out a deposit slip, line now has 10 people" takes place.

-Warik

 

[decem]

smalls.. i agree in that i too would rather see one face to face as i would be quite hesitant to trust some online therapist's credentials.. but between having the worst health care professionals in the country in my area, as well as being so fucking busy between driving to and from work and school, work itself, school, a farm, a wife, etc etc.. i've decided that i might as well talk to some fucker online while i'm at work instead of wasting my time going to someone in person..

although.. i'm also thinking about just going to someone around akron or cleveland where they might have a brain in their head.. and seeing if they'll do the same thing by communicating via email or just having like one face to face a month or some shit (if it even takes that long.. which i don't think it will)..

 

[decem]

smalls.. i agree in that i too would rather see one face to face as i would be quite hesitant to trust some online therapist's credentials.. but between having the worst health care professionals in the country in my area, as well as being so fucking busy between driving to and from work and school, work itself, school, a farm, a wife, etc etc.. i've decided that i might as well talk to some fucker online while i'm at work instead of wasting my time going to someone in person..

although.. i'm also thinking about just going to someone around akron or cleveland where they might have a brain in their head.. and seeing if they'll do the same thing by communicating via email or just having like one face to face a month or some shit (if it even takes that long.. which i don't think it will)..

 

[musclebrains]

A few random points:

People certainly did go to therapists 100 years ago. That was when Freud wrote The Interpretation of Dreams, which distilled the theories, out of the romantic movement, that came to be married to science and called psychoanalysis.

Psycholotherapy developed as a response to changes in cultural values. Freud's patients were hysterics, people for whom sexual repression in the weird Victorian Age became somatized. So there was a particular cultural development, the "re-repression" of the erotic that gave rise to Freud's movment -- PLUS the need, following the Industrial REvolution, to make psychology scientific.

The latter is important because prior to the development of analysis people certainly did develop problems and sought "professional" help. They went to priests, shamen, alchemists, astrologers. The Renaissance was a time when there were as many self-help books being written as now and there was an astoundingly complex psychology developed in Florence by Marsilio Ficino, an astrologer and beneficiary of the Medicis.. And the Greeks had an elaborate system of professional help offered by oracles and rituals.

Pharmaceuticals have also been used from the beginning. We now know that chemicals were used during the Eleusinian mystery rites. They have been used in most religious rituals around the world.

None of this is to argue that therapy hasn't become corrupt and often useless. We dont' see phrenologists any more, and we likewise don't owe practitioners of modern psychology our respect all the time. In the US, psychology has become a tool of social adaptation and I agree with Warik that diagnosis often pathologizes ordinary life problems for no other reason than to sustain the economic culture of psychology.

Finally, realize that there is a big difference between people with serious disorders and the zillions of people who now use therapists for "personal growth" guidance. The fact that they might not "need" to do the latter does not make it inherently wrong -- or at least no wronger than hiring a professional trainer instead of getting a workout buddy.

 

[smallmovesal]

Wow... that came out of nowhere. Why do you inquire?

I check my balances/do transfers online.

For bill payment and such I try to use whatever online method is offered. If none is offered, I use phone. Very very very very rarely will I write a check and pay that damn post office monopoly for an overpriced stamp.

Deposits I go into bank to the teller. I know a couple of them and they're pretty nice.

I wish I could make deposits online... the less work I have to do, the better. Going to the bank takes a good 10-15 min out of my Fridays - even more when the classic episode of "walk in, see empty line, go fill out a deposit slip, line now has 10 people" takes place.

-Warik

just curious... people 100 years ago would think you were nuts for doing any business that wasn't in person.. shiat, that could even mean over the telephone.

 

[smallmovesal]

A few random points:

People certainly did go to therapists 100 years ago. That was when Freud wrote The Interpretation of Dreams, which distilled the theories, out of the romantic movement, that came to be married to science and called psychoanalysis.

Psycholotherapy developed as a response to changes in cultural values. Freud's patients were hysterics, people for whom sexual repression in the weird Victorian Age became somatized. So there was a particular cultural development, the "re-repression" of the erotic that gave rise to Freud's movment -- PLUS the need, following the Industrial REvolution, to make psychology scientific.

totally what i was getting at. anyone ever read freud's case study of dora?

None of this is to argue that therapy hasn't become corrupt and often useless. We dont' see phrenologists any more, and we likewise don't owe practitioners of modern psychology our respect all the time. In the US, psychology has become a tool of social adaptation and I agree with Warik that diagnosis often pathologizes ordinary life problems for no other reason than to sustain the economic culture of psychology.


in that respect i completely agree with warik... my brother was put on ritalin for a time and he isn't add.. although he was diagnosed as such.

 

[Y_lifter]

If you want good Therapy,
Come down to Fl, setup a chair on the Beach with a fishing pole and a cooler of drinks and watch the World, and the Honey's go by...

 

[Warik]

In the US, psychology has become a tool of social adaptation and I agree with Warik that diagnosis often pathologizes ordinary life problems for no other reason than to sustain the economic culture of psychology.

Wtf - you agree with me? I think you need a therapist.

-Warik

 

[Warik]

just curious... people 100 years ago would think you were nuts for doing any business that wasn't in person.. shiat, that could even mean over the telephone.

Interesting point. Shows that a lot can change in 100 years. Then again, people back then didn't have super l33t browser encryption for credit card processing. Sucks to be them. =)

Hey, maybe 100 years from now we'll have medicine that doesn't cause more problems than it fixes. A few weeks ago I was viciously sick and started taking antibiotics. Apparently side effects include nausea, headaches, stomach aches, etc... etc... I was like: "shit, I'd rather be sick."

-Warik

 

[smallmovesal]

Interesting point. Shows that a lot can change in 100 years. Then again, people back then didn't have super l33t browser encryption for credit card processing. Sucks to be them. =)

Hey, maybe 100 years from now we'll have medicine that doesn't cause more problems than it fixes. A few weeks ago I was viciously sick and started taking antibiotics. Apparently side effects include nausea, headaches, stomach aches, etc... etc... I was like: "shit, I'd rather be sick."

-Warik

stop talking about that computer magic encryption doodad... i don't trust that!

did you see that placebos can cause dry mouth, etc? lmao...

 

[decem]

If you want good Therapy,
Come down to Fl, setup a chair on the Beach with a fishing pole and a cooler of drinks and watch the World, and the Honey's go by...

yeah.. i'll be down there (bradenton) in july to do some grouper digging.. as well as some snook/redfish fishin on the flats...

whereabouts you from?

 

[circusgirl]

hmmmm... I would not be in favour of on-line therapy as it seems a waste of time to me. I have seen therapists in person and decided that they weren't for me, but my problem is mainly biochemical (manic depression) and inherited, which caused the problems, along with various other shit.

A bad therapist can drive people to suicide. One to remember. Quiz your therapist for ages about as many things about their background as you can. Some have weirdo ideas, others have god complexes, other project their aggression about their own issues on to you (this last is VERY common).

Try opening a journal on www.opendiary.com. It's helped me a great deal.

circusgirl

 

[decem]

hmmmm... I would not be in favour of on-line therapy as it seems a waste of time to me. I have seen therapists in person and decided that they weren't for me, but my problem is mainly biochemical (manic depression) and inherited, which caused the problems, along with various other shit.

A bad therapist can drive people to suicide. One to remember. Quiz your therapist for ages about as many things about their background as you can. Some have weirdo ideas, others have god complexes, other project their aggression about their own issues on to you (this last is VERY common).

Try opening a journal on www.opendiary.com. It's helped me a great deal.

circusgirl

thx circus girl.. i feel ya about the quack therapist thing.. i actually have seen two (both for one visit each).. the first one i was talking to him.. and then i thought i had shit figured out. so i never went back.. the second was a mother fucking weirdo.. she made a few mentions to god and christ or something like that.. at which point i told her that her religious views are quite contrary to mine and that i felt that because of this.. she quite clearly could not associate with me nor could i accept or understand any advice she might give.. and the buh-bye..

anywho.. as i stated earlier.. i am actually keeping an online journal.. just in my own email though.. and i think it is actually helping me.. as i can track the various emotions and moods i go through at the various time.. as well as the way i feel toward the situation at hand at each time.. maybe i will end up coming to my own conclusion after all..

 

[Y_lifter]

Originally posted by decem
yeah.. i'll be down there (bradenton) in july to do some grouper digging.. as well as some snook/redfish fishin on the flats...

whereabouts you from?

Central Fl...

If you want more Flats fishing, head north of New Smyrna to Mosquito Lagoon....

You'll see them big Red's tails a waggin on the surface.

 

[decem]

Central Fl...

If you want more Flats fishing, head north of New Smyrna to Mosquito Lagoon....

You'll see them big Red's tails a waggin on the surface.

dude.. you want to talk big reds.. holy shit.. i lived in beaufort, south carolina for 2 years while i was stationed at Parris Island.. well the fuckin redfish roam the shores dude.. not the flats or the inner coastals.. but the 10-30ft water off the coast.. these fuckers average.. AVERAGE.. 32 inches or so (i don't know if that's an accurate statistic.. but all the ones you see brought in are that big or bigger).. and 40" reds are not uncommon at all...

oh yeah.. and the fucking cobia are unreal.. dumb as fuck too.. lol.. the come to the boat.. then you just toss an 18" eel in front of their face.. and WHAM..

 

[Y_lifter]

Decem, while reading that post, ... I think IT moved.

Reds that big are in the deep sections of the Lagoon but pretty rare.
There was an article in Fl fishing magazine about a guide that knows the spots for the Bulls.

I love surf fishing best because it has it all...
Surf, Sun, beautiful women walking by and you never know what is gonna hit in the surf.

Sharks are getting very easy to find lately and it kills me when I catch a 3 footer
and some mom comes up with her kids and asks
"where did you catch that?"
And I tell her "well, right out there, about where your kids are swimming"
She goes freaking out yelling "GET OUT OF THE WATER" ...
bwahahah

Flats fishing is fantastic if you have the gear.

 

[Y_lifter]

http://www.sportfishingmag.com/SF_Main/1,3214,5-1-1-21182-335-129,00.html

http://www.fishflorida.com/redfish/

 

[musclebrains]

Online therapy sucks, by the way, unless you're basically looking for advice. Because I have a unique speciality, I'm asked to do phone work frequently and online stuff now and then. I won't even do the phone work any more. You just can't be very effective in the absence of the client's body, which is often communicating more honestly and directly than words.

 

[decem]

Online therapy sucks, by the way, unless you're basically looking for advice. Because I have a unique speciality, I'm asked to do phone work frequently and online stuff now and then. I won't even do the phone work any more. You just can't be very effective in the absence of the client's body, which is often communicating more honestly and directly than words.

while what i've suggested is lacking in that the therapist would not be able to read the patient's body language, in my case i think it would be ideal.

there is no way that i would be able to go in a talk for a half hour a week and bring up the shit i want to talk about.. whether it simply was not right at the front of my mind or i could not recall all the specifics of my feelings and emotions or whatever..

that's why i think that this, giving someone this journal to read, or something to that extent, where i'm writing everything out in detail at the moment it happens... would be a much more useful strategy.. for me anyway..

also.. talking clients and patients are totally different things when you're talking about body language..




lol about the sharks y_lifter.. that was another thing about that area.. it was a breeding ground for hammerheads.. i'd probably pulled in 200 hammerheads there.. unfortunately they were all small as fuck.. under 18" anyway..

you do much snook fishin? god i love tossing a shiner at the mangroves and instantly seeing that big fucking splash and the ensuing eddy made by the weight of a 20lb snook hammering down on its prey.. as well as the fight that ensues..

 

[musclebrains]

while what i've suggested is lacking in that the therapist would not be able to read the patient's body language, in my case i think it would be ideal.

there is no way that i would be able to go in a talk for a half hour a week and bring up the shit i want to talk about.. whether it simply was not right at the front of my mind or i could not recall all the specifics of my feelings and emotions or whatever..

that's why i think that this, giving someone this journal to read, or something to that extent, where i'm writing everything out in detail at the moment it happens... would be a much more useful strategy.. for me anyway..
..

I have several clients who keep journals, Decem. They either email me their entries or leave them each week. It's still more effective to discuss the contents in person since there are always subtexts that are more significant than the text -- just as the gestural body is often more significant than the verbal presentation.

I'm unclear what you're dealing with but if it's existential questions, you might even try someone in the new field of philosophical counseling.

 

[decem]

it's not existential at all musclebrains.. my emotions and thoughts on such matters are quite solid and clear..

i'll pm ya if you don't mind..

 

[musclebrains]

Wtf - you agree with me? I think you need a therapist.

-Warik

No, you do.

 

[§äñît¥ Pôí§ðñ]

i didn't read the whole post, forgive any stupid or off the wall statements i make

but i always thoght therapy qwas a crock of shit, and it usually is.
but i spent the majority of time going to a psychiatrist and , yea, getting medication WHICH I DONT NEED

i am much better off without and meds, and i've been totally off anything for over a month now, yeah, big whoop, but it's a positive change

the counselor i see now is a methodist preacher, i am not methodist, but a spiritual point of view over my life has done me a lot more good than any psychologist, psychiatrist, or doctor combined.

^ even if u aren't religious, i suggest u look into someone like i have described. as u know, i was a very anti religious person, and well, that has chagned, not BECAUSE of my counseling, but that has majorly aided me.

 

[CrimsonKing]

DECEM NEEDS HIS HEAD CHECKED

 

[casavant]

I don't know if that exists, but quite frankly I've always found therapists to be BS. Just another "doctor" looking to prescribe medicine. 100 years ago we didn't have any of this shit and everyone got along fine... suddenly we have a billion drugs for every imaginable problem and 9 out of 10 people are on one or more of them because of "problems."

Find a friend online and talk to him instead. Chances are he'll give more of a shit about helping you. I've always found that the help you get from other people is the same help you'd get from yourself if you could think about things without any bias. It's a logic thing.

-Warik

I hear you on that I read of a study in my gen. psych book in which one group of people talked about their problems to a shrink and the other group talked to normal people who had been given basic instruction in listening skills and empathy. The shrink group did not report any more satisfaction than the "normal person" one.

However, I went on Wellbutrin a few months ago and the stuff has really helped a lot. People "medicated" themselves back in the old days with various substances. It just didn't come from Pfizer or Glaxo.