Goodbye, Therapist. Hello, Anxiety? (New York Times, free reg. req’d)

The NY Times had a great piece yesterday on the growing trend of people trying psychotherapy for the first time, and the constant changes in therapists many people encounter.

Few relationships outside the realm of romance are fraught with as much potential for confusion and unhappiness at their conclusion than that of the client-therapist, a professional union built upon trust and the sharing of intimate detail.

As extreme as the cases of Mr. Dietzler and Ms. Chizek might seem, their experiences are not that rare. As an estimated 20 million Americans seek therapy each year – the result of a greater public awareness of treatable conditions like depression and a lessening of the stigma involved – one trend is clear: Unlike in decades past, many people currently experience therapy in short installments with various practitioners over time. That means more time spent on hellos and, perhaps more problematically, goodbyes.

The reasons are many. In an era of managed care, easy mobility, abundant choice and the growing popularity of brief forms of treatment, patients are more likely to bounce around. The relationships formed over the years with one specialist, Woody Allen-style, is anything but typical, and that’s been the case for years. According to a federal study released three years ago, about 10 percent of people who seek psychotherapy attend more than 20 sessions, and about 33 percent meet with their therapists only once or twice.

It is one of the most frustrating components of psychotherapy — finding a therapist you connect with, and then making sure you can keep seeing that therapist (if, for example, you change jobs and insurance companies).

Dr. John Grohol is the CEO and founder of Psych Central. He is an author, researcher and expert in mental health online, and has been writing about online behavior, mental health and psychology issues -- as well as the intersection of technology and human behavior -- since 1992. Dr. Grohol sits on the editorial board of the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking and is a founding board member and treasurer of the Society for Participatory Medicine.

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    Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 2 Sep 2005
    Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.