Mental health plan running out - what now?

[Guest_1203]

So had my 7th session with my Clinical Psychologist today, and I'm only feeling like we are starting to get into the nitty gritty of problems and was informed by the receptionist on the way out that after my 10th session I'll have to start paying privately $175 a session.

Which in turn is giving me pretty bad anxiety, as I can't afford to be paying that weekly/fortnightly as the money from my casual job barely covers my bills/debt at the moment, I'm only 24 and I'm trying to find more work but even then I don't think I'll be able to afford that.

It's just super concerning as I feel like its been of great benefit to me and i really like the women that I've been seeing and really don't want to slip back to how I was prior to seeing her. I'm going to bring it up with her next session, but I'm just lost as to how I'm going to feel knowing I won't be able to afford to go back. So I just don't know where to go from now...because I know I'm going to need more than 10 sessions to sort everything out.

[JessF]

Hello Guest,

Therapy can be a bitlike the 'how long is a piece of string' question once you start getting into issues. Having only a limited number of sessions covered is also upsetting when you're on a budget.

That said, it is what it is and you now need to know what your options are. I think you're definitely on the right track by bringing it up in the next session. Ideally, establishing in session 1 what your goals are in therapy with the psychologist would have been the best option, as she could have planned out the 10 sessions with you with that timeframe in mind.

However she is a professional and they will be used to having clients that only have 10 sessions available to them. Telling her in your next session that you can't afford to continue will enable you both to work out what the priorities are for the next 3 sessions, and give you a plan for working on your own for the next little while.

She may also be able to refer you to a bulk billing psychologist that could continue working with you.

There are a lot of free options available for working on skills like CBT. Online porgrammes, books etc, and many people find it helpful to post here for regular support.

[Guest_1203]

Im not sure why my username is guest haha I set it on registration - ah well.

Anyway, thanks for the reply!

Yeah it's really concerning for me right now, as I've seen previous psychologists in the past years and have never clicked with any of them like I have with this lady. It kind of was hard to set up a 10 session plan at the start as I had so many different things going on at the time and it was varying week to week.

Yeah I'm definitely going to be bringing it up with her in my next session, because I'm worried I'll slip back into my old habits...

[JessF]

It sounds like your main concern is the 'slipping back into old habits'. What are the old habits you're concerned about? Would it help you to write them out here and talk about them before going back to your next appointment?

[Guest_1203]

Suffer from pretty bad abandonment trauma. Found my dad attempting suicide at 14, then lived the next year and half knowing that eventually he will get the job done which he did. Which has led me to have pretty bad anxiety with a constant sense of impending doom, where everything is going to go wrong in life.

Can't trust anyone anymore, especially when in a relationship - which has led to very low self worth and esteem. Smoked weed for 4 years to mask my loneliness and my anxiety (finally off it 2 months now). So now that impending doom feeling is crossing over into not having my psychologist there anymore as I truly believe its been helping me so far.

[JessF]

I'm very sorry to read about your father, that must have been a terrible time. It sounds like a lot of the fears and doom you're describing are to do with worrying whether you will be able to cope on your own. What do you think has been most helpful about your psych sessions so far? Are you a bit worried you might go back to weed again as a coping mechanism?