3rd Times the Charm

There was one time I tried to get help in 2019, I started therapy the month of November of that year. It was my first time ever seeing a therapist and I wasn’t sure how it all worked. I saw my first therapist for a total of 3 sessions before it ended. I thought therapist were supposed to schedule your next appointment at the end of your session but not mine. Instead she would text me a day before asking if I had availability for the following day. She never texted me to schedule a follow up visit after my 3rd session with her. I guess that is partially my fault because I wasn’t persistent enough. My first therapy experience ended before it even started to say the least. Then, I finally worked up the courage to try again in 2020 with a different therapist of course. At that point in my life I catered so much into the agoraphobia that I didn’t think there was any hope for me.

My second therapist was really nice but in my opinion I didn’t think she was the perfect fit for me and that’s okay! It’s common to go through different therapists until you find one that is compatible for you. I realize that therapy takes time; no one is going to be cured over night so I still gave her a shot. It wasn’t until one night I started to Google how I felt when I left the house that I needed to see someone new. That night I started to read about agoraphobia and it made sense. It was almost as if it was a sigh of relief to put a name to how I was feeling. My therapist never gave me a diagnosis, which is weird right? I found out more from Google than I did from my own therapist. The biggest take away from that night was I needed to try exposure therapy and that is exactly what I started doing. I was also put on medication, which is what my second therapist recommended I be on. It took me awhile to accept that I needed to be on medication because I wanted medication to be the last resort for me. I’m not against medication; I just get nervous taking any medicines because I’m not sure how I will react to it. In February I started seeing a new therapist. I guess the third times the charm right? With taking medication, trying exposure therapy, and being introduced my new therapist I finally had hope.