So my workplace offers 6 free therapy sessions which you have to arrange through insurance. I called them today for the first time in the hopes of getting in person therapy for social anxiety.
The call gets passed to a handler who asked a bunch of screening questions and I was kind of surprised how useless they all were.
I basically told her I wanted to speak to a therapist about social anxiety which I figured would be enough but apparently not. Here’s some of what she asked
1. Who is your support network
2. What do you do when stressed
3. What does a perfect day without stress look like
4. How does this anxiety manifest itself
5. How often does it happen
6. What is your SMART goal for the therapy, I.e the goal has to be time limited and specific
I thought I was answering the questions ok but a lot of them weren’t all that applicable. 1 and 2 are fine, number 3 I tried to make the point that my social anxiety isn’t really tied to stress and I feel equally anxious at work as I would do on holiday.
Number 5 she wanted me to give an actual number but you might as well ask how long a ball of string is. I feel anxious with every interaction, or walking down the street, in the supermarket etc
Number 6 I just said I would hope to feel less anxious within the 6 sessions. She wanted to know how I would measure it? I said I could give myself a number out of 10 at the first session and at the end of which didn’t seem to satisfy her.
I worked my way through them and she started to say that she wasn’t sure I’ll get a lot out of the therapy because it’ll be just like the phone call I had with her and not to bother if I was expecting something else.
Basically, it sounded like she was accusing me of not really opening up enough. I got irritated and snapped to her that it sounded like she was trying to talk me out of booking the sessions and then she got annoyed and said she was just managing my expectations.
I mean what the fuck, she’s not the therapist and if I want to try it that should be the end of it.
I feel kind of bad about it now because she was probably just reading from a sheet. I don’t really have high hopes for the actual therapy sessions now.
2 comments
That was insurance people asking those questions? What the hell do they know about psychology? I have to say if I had an interaction such as yours I would most likely get my head wrapped around the idea of chewing someone’s ass. Then go right up the food chain until I had results that made me feel better about the whole deal to begin with.
First off no one likes to talk about mental health to a stranger let alone on the phone and then to have someone cop an attitude with me about my asking for help. I myself would be livid. I can see where you would be upset and you have every right to be.
I am no expert on those things, but you pay insurance for a reason, and they should accommodate those that are in need of assistance. Not try to decide if you need it or not. Benefit or not it’s none of their damn business. Even if there is no progress, it will be a starting point for further therapy if it is needed.
I hope it gets a bit more easier for you.
Well, the personal judgement by her was unnecessary, but it doesn’t sound accusatory. And with respect, your interpretation of the interaction does indeed seem like your expectations needed managed. I’m reading a lot of performative language, that assumes a lot about the intentions of the person on the phone.
The list of provided questions is very similar to a local Crisis Stabilization Unit nearby, that must be asked by the person on the phone when determining whether the SU would be a wise/viable choice for a person experiencing crisis. While you are not in crisis (presumably), these questions all sound like the baseline information that might be gathered by a nurse or attendant assistant in a practice, to pass along to the actual mental health professional you would be meeting with to determine how much of what sort of work needs to be put in.
I’m not sure of your insurance situation, but its predominant that insurance companies want to know how much Care is going to cost, and one of the easiest ways to do that is establishing a timeframe of expectations for therapeutic improvement.
It’s up to the therapist and insurance company how many sessions will be covered, not the intake people. But things like the SMART goal are needed in a lot of cases for bill coding, which is what makes the machine work.
All of that said – I’d implore you to continue with therapy, but try and enter in with a Willing mindset. Right now you’re pretty well convinced that this whole mess will not turn out well for you. But you cannot prove that statement to me or yourself, as no proof exists that things will not turn out.
One of the biggest pieces of advice that I received regarding therapists is being willing to acknowledge that therapists are not one-size-fits-all, and if it takes a bit to find someone you mesh with? Then you still end up finding a therapist that meshes with you.
So. Be Willing to accept that you can still get something out of this experience and therapy at large, even if you’re feeling really cruddy about it right now.
P.S. – ultimately this would be better guided by a therapist or in a group setting, but there are workbooks for learning Dialectical Behavioral Therapy skills. And just websites and stuff. I’ve found it very good for tempering my expectations in life as well as gaining more control of my thoughts and actions. It doesn’t work for everyone or every issue, but it’s helped me.