Hi Centaured
I wish you could cross paths with some professionals who are truly outstanding, the sort of people who would leave you thinking 'My god, I've never met anyone like this before. They are incredible'. As I'm sure you'd be able to testify, the amount of mental health professionals who don't make any outstanding difference are a dime a dozen. I don't think they fully realise how depressing it can be to go through a process of meeting people who make no outstanding difference. It can be deeply depressing.
When my daughter was studying psychology in year 12, I can remember asking her 'Why don't psychologists consider what's outside the square when treating people?', as outside the square is something that can make a significant difference to some. She told me that everything must be followed by the book, otherwise it's classed as negligence. Any new or outside the square treatment that may work has to pass through a whole stack of testing and stuff before being introduced into the world of psychiatry/psychology. Apparently this process takes a heck of a long time. I said to her 'What if someone has found an avenue of therapy that works miracles? What if they're the modern day version of Carl Jung'. As she said, 'Doesn't matter. It's not allowed to be practiced'. While I can genuinely understand the need to regulate practices, to avoid doing serious damage to someone's psyche, it makes you realise how limited such therapy can be. Makes you realise why some mental health professionals in this field actually leave the field to practice alternative therapies. In some cases they find they can't make significant progress under such limitations.
Something seriously outside the square which you may or may not consider while you're undergoing treatment: Not sure if I've mentioned it to you before but have you ever heard of The Hearing Voices Network? Yes, it's a thing. To consider a network where it's normal for the people there to hear voices (based on a number of reasons), might provide you with some folk who can deeply relate to the struggles. Believe it or not there is also such a things as World Hearing Voices Congress, where mental health professionals and others congregate annually to discuss the latest in better understanding hearing voices, as opposed to them working with old models.
Wondering if finding people you can relate to might make some difference, some who've actually developed different management strategies that work well for them.
