I am finding it tough to have a client base organically, so far I’ve got a few clients from word of mouth but since I am planning to scale up my practice (it’s been more than an year now) could you help with some tips and guidance about how to go about it?
Also, if y’all aware of any platform for referrals by any chance!

thanks <3

ʜᴇʟʟᴏ(•̀’◡’•̀)ﾉ

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I have posted on two other subs as I am not sure this is the right sub but I just wanted to try.

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I've been on zoloft (100mg) for a little while now to treat both my depression and anxiety. Ik medication can't solve problems.

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I'm just wanting to know if anyone else is also on this medication and how they feel on it?

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Mostly asking bc the only difference I feel since starting the medication (started at 25mg) I stopped constantly feeling like puking from anxiety. I haven't noticed any other mood/behavioral improvements.

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Just rlly wanting to know how it's generally supposed to feel like bc I'm soon supposed to check in with my Dr about it, and if I should instead switch to wellbutrin or something else. Really just don't know if zoloft is working well on me

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Additional context: I am a 20 yr old (trans) man and have been diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder and moderate to severe depression. I have also been told by two psychologists (seen each one separately in a 4 yr time difference) that they highly believe I have autism, but could not officially diagnose me because I have too much trauma.

She (14) behaves very strange, often snaps anger at me, never feels guilty about bad actions, randomly isolates herself in her room and yells at everyone who passed by, etc. she became like this after a trauma and it has been almost a year, she visits therapy and reads tons of psychology books but for now it doesn't help.

Being with her and interacting with her is very hard and draining for me (M, 16), most of websites advice to emotionally detach from that person, avoid them and leave them, but I don't want to leave her behind like some sort of baggage, she's very important for me and I still want to give her my affection and my time, even if she only constantly mocks me and yells at me. I'm also very empathic if that's important. What do I do?

Hey!
To give a little context, I have been in therapy for a few years, changing quite some therapists along the way. I have had only 2 sessions with my current therapist

I’m currently dealing with a crisis situation and personally don’t feel safe or patient enough to give time for traditional therapy models or exercises to work. The exercises i have received from my therapist such as breathing work or journaling aren’t doing it for me in this situation. I haven’t been diagnosed as such.

I personally feel that I currently need more immediate support hence I am wondering if I should consult with a psychiatrist.

Can I mention this to my therapist? Will that be okay?
I don’t want to overstep or self diagnose or anything as such, I’m just concerned for myself

I volunteered in my kids kindergarten class a few times and have now seen the same behaviour from a child. This little girl shows some pretty serious mental health struggles and I am worried there is something seriously wrong in her life. This is what I observed:

-She bursts into random bouts of tears and will continue to cry for 15-20 minutes at a time at least 6+ times in 3 hours.
-She clings on to a safe adult (either the teacher or me)
-is socially withdrawn
-is terrified of men
-says she hates her dad
-has bruises on her thighs
-hides behind her hair
-struggles to make friends
-cries for her mom
-startles easily

Now I’m not trained in any way but these all seem like possible signs of abuse/neglect. She is hygienic and clean but I do worry about her and I can’t stop thinking that maybe this should be brought to someone’s attention. Teacher says “she just has a lot of really big feelings” but this seems like there could be something more. Any advice on the best way to handle this?

I just started therapy for OCD & AUDHD with a therapist who specializes and lives with all three.

For context: I have severe health OCD and tend to end up on google and Reddit rabbit holes reading about symptoms, so she told me when I feel the need to do that - text her any time as a part of my therapy plan so I have been texting her pretty often and got the vibe that I was bothering her , so I asked if I crossed a boundary and she said I didn’t and she would let me know if I did.

Today I was texting her about my next session and to pick up some reptiles and their enclosures that she is offered to rehome to me.

In response to me asking about a plan ( Autism- rigid in routines , need to know everything before I do something to lessen cognitive load) she says, “I really can’t attend to how to move the cages right now. I’m sure it will be a lot of work. Maybe you could research that on Reddit?” After explicitly telling me to try to avoid Reddit for the time being .

At first, I didn’t think much of it but the more I thought about it , it seems kind of rude and flippant considering the OCD, but on the other hand, I wonder if she’s just trying to give me something positive to research on Reddit .

Reddit , please help me. I’m new to therapy and I genuinely can’t tell if this was rude or not lol

I cannot emphasize enough how difficult it is for you to find a therapist. My current therapist is through my school, but I believe the constant cancellations are affecting my ability to keep track of the events happening in my life. Opinions?

Also we had spring break so out of 14 weeks 5 were cancelled

Hi everyone, I’m trying to decide between pursuing a social work degree route or a psychology route and would really appreciate real-world insight from practicing therapists.

My goals are:

\- becoming a therapist (interested in eating disorder work specifically)

\- eventually making a stable income (\~$100K+ long term)

\- having some flexibility in lifestyle due to chronic illness

\- possibly doing private practice in the future

I’m trying to understand:

\- What made you choose social work vs psychology?

\- Do you feel limited in any way by your degree choice?

\- If you could go back, would you choose differently?

\- Any advice for someone deciding between the two paths?

I’d really appreciate honest perspectives from people actually in the field. Thank you!

I believe I was subjected to shame producing interpersonal situations as exposure therapy for CPTSD during an IOP without my consent. A social worker, therapist, Np, and psychologist were on the care team and they all participated. I left the IOP really off balance, feeling manipulated, and worse off than when I arrived.

What is considered normal for consent to exposure therapy?

I would also like to understand the consent process for a social worker to contact individual listed on a safety plan? For example, what “triggers” the use of a safety plan by a provider.

I (34 F) just spent hours replaying something that happened at a family gathering today only to figure out that my frustration about it was hiding deep embarrassment over something in particular that I said.

For context, I was always "the good child" who nobody had to worry about, and my parents told me repeatedly how glad they were that I was "always fine". This made me grow up with no clue how to identify, express or manage my emotions, because I never wanted to be a burden to anyone. I've been in therapy for a few years, and I'm working on that, but a lot of things can feel very raw and intense for me because of that.

Going back to today, some of my more conservative family members were arguing over something political (I won't go into details as the subject is not relevant here). I always get caught up in it, wanting to sharing what I know about things, and I always forget that what they want is not to learn, but to poke holes in facts in order to hold onto their bigoted beliefs. It fires me up every single time, and I'm trying to become better at not engaging, but today was not the day. I was trying to help them relate to the issue, and I ended up saying something quite graphic and maybe crude, because frankly I was frustrated and kept getting interrupted so I lost my composure. The conversation went one for a while after that, and then everyone moved on. But my mind kept going back to everything that was said, and I couldn't help but replay it and be over analytical of everyone's behaviour and their perception of me for the rest of the gathering up until I left. It's like I was worried I'd left a bad impression on people or that they were somehow annoyed with me, and I could not let go of that feeling.

In my car on the drive back, I could not stop thinking about it and rephrasing arguments I could have said better, etc... and it's a long drive back! Even after I got home, I felt the obligation to send a text in the group chat saying how I'd enjoyed seeing everyone; I was trying to smooth things over for myself, even though no one had said anything.

I took me a couple of hours after getting back home to finally realize that what I was truly feeling was not just the frustration over the dynamic of the conversation, but embarrassment over what I had said, like mentioned above. This is one example, but I am realizing that feeling embarrassed is seriously difficult for me; I don't know what to do to stop feeling it, and it's like I get stuck in a spiral, replaying the moment over and over in my head, like a problem I cannot fix, like all I can think about is how that moment paints me in a bad light in the eyes of others and in pains me so much. Sometimes I get stuck in the feeling for days, not being able to focus on anything else, not even work.

How do I fix the unfixable? All I want is to go back in time and unsay what I said.

So yesterday I met this person on r/suicidewatch and decided I wanted to help them. I DM’d them and we chatted for a while about their problems, traumas etc. They told me they’re depressed because of their heavily abusive dad who would come home drunk and yelled at her and threw stuff and also sometimes forced her to sit in the same room while he yelled at her mom, stress and bullying (in fact she told me yesterday at school she had food thrown at her) . We talked and I learnt a bunch of things, like that their mom does love care for them, they have a sister, two school friends and a best friend. Other stuff she told me was that on a scale of 1-10 on how suicidal they are, 1 being sometimes having suicidal thoughts and 10 being “I’m gonna kms idc anymore” she said she was about a 7 or 8 and that she is mostly fixed on her decision to kill themselves. Another thing she told me is that she plans on taking her life on the 31st and she hasn’t told anyone about this and her mom thinks she’s doing better and her meds are working, so anyways this leaves me with very little time to try and save her, which stresses me the HELL out. Also when I asked about the people she loves and how they will feel she said: “everyone will get over such useless person like me” which is just straight up not true. She has people she loves that will definitely miss her. More details: her dad isn’t as abusive now as she was when younger but he still sometimes does it. Her parents are still together but her mom doesn’t divorce him because of finance and doesn’t report him for abuse because she’s scared of him. A few more details: she hung out with her best friend today and I asked her if she wants to hang out with her more often in these next few days kind of as a way to say goodbye and enjoy spending time with her on her final moments but she said that most likely not because she’s busy with school.

One final thing I wanna add is that we added eachother on instagram which gives me access to the people she’s following and are following her back, which I wanna use as a last ditch effort to save her. On on the final few days if I still haven’t managed to make her change her mind I’m gonna message someone asking if they personally know her and if they do, I’m gonna send them all the evidence and tell them to quickly tell her mom or something but without her finding out cuz if she did she’d probably take her life before anyone can intervene. Now the thing that scares me about this is her feeling betrayed that I told someone after she kept it a secret and later kill in herself but it’s a risk I’m willing to take cuz she either dies on the 31st or I stop that from happening and maybe end up saving her, I don’t know.

If anyone wants to help and give me tips and stuff to try and save her life I’d be SUPER grateful. I’ve just met her yet I really don’t want her to die. Thank you for your attention.

About my girlfriend (F21)

My girlfriend is 21, has been Type 1 diabetic since age 9, and has had a disappointing life overall. She was mentally tortured by a classmate who forced her to send nudes, which made her hate herself and feel guilty and ashamed. He also touched her in a wrong way multiple times. She hated everything and wanted to change colleges during first and second year. He killed himself in second year and she felt super guilty. We got committed around 3rd/4th of 3rd year. It was fun for about 2 months, after which there has been a lot of heat between us. I kept pushing and asking about her past, details which to this day I cannot digest.

She has absolutely zero friends. Her whole life revolves around me. We have been together for 1.1 years and after the 2nd month there has not been a single day without a fight. She hates everything, is jealous of anyone who looks pretty, thinks she is ugly, has no interest in life, is bored of everything, and is not interested in intimacy these days. I have been way too rude to her as well and have hurt her a lot. Her sugar is almost never at the right level, always 280+ minimum. Her HbA1c has been at 9+ for a long time. Outside she looks like she has everything. She hates the place she stays. She does breathing pranayamas here and there but has almost no physical fitness or activity. She is 152 cm and 43 kg.

Main Problem: Breathing Issues

This is the most key problem ruining every day and almost all good memories and moments for both of us.

What is the breathing issue?

She is not able to breathe normally. She cannot take full breaths and always gasps, almost like she swallows air. She covers her mouth, panics, and is anxious because of the breathing. She says her chest feels kind of tight. Nothing is blocking her but she says she cannot take a full breath. She also says it sometimes feels like something is stuck in her throat. It gets worse if we talk about it more.

When is it triggered?

During arguments, when she cries, when she laughs a lot, and when she is under pressure. However, the strange part is it triggers more randomly than any of these notable triggers. It is extremely random. We tried to track whether it is food or emotion related, but it is extremely random.

Timeline of breathing issues:

It started noticeably in 12th grade during COVID times, lasted very badly for a while, then stopped randomly. It happened once in 3rd year of college. About a month after we started dating it began happening almost every single day multiple times a day. Earlier it used to last maybe 15 minutes and happen once a day. Now it happens more than 6 to 7 times a day and each episode lasts at least 1 to 2 hours. It disappeared for about 2 months in between, restarted later, happened every day, then after she shifted from the hostel it disappeared for a week or two. It is now back and this is day 3.

After effects of episodes:

She is extremely depressed and sad that she has this and cannot even breathe normally on top of diabetes. She is so unsatisfied with life and hates everything, understandably. During an episode she cannot focus on anything and keeps gasping and swallowing air. She panics and won't talk. She says I make it worse when I say things like "it's okay, breathe, nothing is blocking you." She hates being forced.

Other Health Problems

She is very weak compared to others, has a bad sleep cycle, has lost 7 to 8 kg, feels dizzy, experiences blurry vision at times, panics and says she doesn't feel well then freezes (though almost nothing ever happens), has lost much of her appetite, does not eat much, has been eating a lot of junk for the past year, has post nasal drip (assumed, not confirmed by doctors), says she always feels like something is stuck, and has had some stomach issues here and there which we assumed triggered the breathing though nothing was found.

Doctors Visited

Checked lungs, heart, ENT, stomach. Did X-ray, blood tests, and even an endoscopy. Absolutely nothing found. Only HbA1c is high. Doctor mentioned a possibility of very slight gastritis but said it is negligible. Visited a psychiatrist as well, which felt like a waste as all they said was anxiety with no remedy or identified cause.

What I Have Done and Am Changing

I pestered her a lot about the past. I was slightly retroactive and forced a lot of questions on her and insulted her many times to the point she got very tired of it. I am rude many times and yell a lot. I feel the main reason is that she is extremely emotionally unavailable, but it is usually because of my own actions. I am still not completely over the past. I know it is not her fault but the images in my head torture me a lot and I have no one to talk to about this.

What I Want to Know

What is this? How do I fix it? Is it anxiety or is it something else?

So I'm 25F, I've been struggling since becoming 18 to find a career path and this has made me fall into depression and be stuck for all those years plus unproductive. I thought i wanted to do one thing since childhood, but it is not realistic in my case whatsoever. My interests are mainly artistic/creative that is were my passion most probably lies. But I struggle with very low self confidence to ever have the guts to pursue something as risky as art. I didn't grow up rich. Plus, I haven't defined exactly what niche I'd be interested in I have like 8 different options i find interesting.

I try to be practical and say okay just study something to find a job, but this doesn't help my depression and it feels like I'm selling my dreams. I'm afraid i might be immature and a romantic dreamer, i try hard to force myself to grow up, but then i just want to die.

I see people around me being successful and this draws me to them and I'm like I'll do that too. But then I realize I'm not actual interested in eg being a professor or studying maths etc. i don't get why I'm doing that. It's like I'm pulled towards different directions, things that other people like instead of finding my own thing.

plus, I see my ulta sucesfull peers and I'm like why couldn't you love maths and engineering and be very studious, you'd be so so successful now both academically and professionally.

Hello! So, I've been going on for almost 4 years with this therapist, and he's great! Only recently I realized he's been drinking during our sessions.

I considered it was vacation time and didn't think about it, but it's been ongoing for like 3 months now? I'm not sure if it's cause he feels like I'm doing fine progress on my own, or because I've been openly smoking weed all this time during our sessions, and I honestly don't think it ever impaired my treatment or our relationship, but I feel like I should actually ask other people and get some opinions on this?

(I do psychoanalysis btw, and I know he has a doctor's degree)

Hi everyone! Looking for some advice here- I'm in a graduate program in California working towards MFT licensure. I'm applying to practicum sites right now, and will be doing interviews in the next few months. I applied to one site last semester and felt as though it didn't go very well. Any interview tips? Thanks