Feels off with therapist…

I just recently had this happen with me on the NOCD platform. I started working with my first therapist for a few months. Felt judged, pressured, assessments took the entire session to fill out, and after sessions it was like she was annoyed if I didn’t do homework exactly the way we talked about. I’m not a child or a college student. I am very much an adult with a life that ebbs and flows so sometimes adjusting to situations is needed. I had reservations about her and the way she was talking to me, then she took a leave of absence so I was like ok maybe she was going through something. NOCD paired me with another therapist while mine was on leave and right away I felt the difference. The new therapist was kind, flexible, compassionate, and encouraging. My old therapist came back from her leave (gone for 30days) and I figured I would give her another chance to see if things were better. They were not. This therapist, who had not seen or worked with me for an entire month, had the audacity to tell that based on my assessment scores I was not getting any better. She barely discussed the past month of progress I made. It was like she didn’t read any notes or catch up. She also made the remark “Well, if you want (new therapist) to be your primary therapist, that’s fine, no hurt feelings here.” Super weird comment. To give this context, this remark was made during the discussion of co- therapy for PTSD and OCD. A plan discussed with the NOCD team member advocates. She told me that NOCD does not do co-therapy and I can only have 2 sessions per week with one therapist. All information that was completely incorrect. Add to this that in the time she was out on the leave of absence, I made the most progress with exposures since this whole mess started 5 years ago with C-19 (I am a healthcare worker diagnosed with OCD due to the pandemic causing cleaning compulsions and fear of people, being outside). After working with the NOCD team and the new therapist, the new therapist is now my primary ERP therapist, and I have added a co-therapist for PTSD. Please advocate for yourself if something feels off. My new therapist helped me feel that I was doing the right thing by honoring what I was feeling. I am so happy I did because both therapists I have now are a world of difference from my initial therapist.

First off, you are not “a lot” or annoying!! Your feelings are completely valid and I’m so sorry your therapist made you feel less than. I pray you love this new therapist and that they will actually help you get through this! We got this love :)

The second therapist I saw tonight was a breath of fresh air! It went well and she was much easier to talk to and empathetic. Im so thankful. Again, thank you all! 🩵🩵🩵

I felt a similar thing with mine. You deserve someone who understands you and can hold you as you are. Hope the new therapist does better xx

I’ve had a couple of therapists that were clearly judgmental towards me, it was no fun. I had one tell me I’m just like their neighbor they don’t like lol, not even hiding it. I don’t know all the details so I can’t say for sure, but they may have harbored judgment towards you, or they may just not have been a good fit with the way they talk. Smart of you to try some others to get a better lay of the land. I hope it goes well 🙏🏼

I hope the new therapy session goes better! I’m sorry you had to go through that.

Thanks so much for responding and saying this! Means so much. 🩵

That happened to me! My first therapist was so empathetic and amazing and was very kind, but she went on maternity leave. The therapist they assigned me next was horrible, she was very intense tried to delve into my childhood and asked about trauma and made me super paranoid that maybe I had been abused and didn’t remember. She even started implying my parents were emotionally abusive and used very intense words that were sooooo triggering, when I’m in therapy for OCD and was not looking to dig up random non-traumatic events to try to find a “cause” for my OCD. She also would interrupt me and not let me finish talking. I was so upset and never saw her again, switched therapists right away, and found a new therapist that was super nice and down to earth. I’m so glad you found someone better!