Change of Therapist

That’s a bittersweet title.  The truth of it is, my son that has been in cognitive behavioral therapy for the last 4.5 years, with the same therapist due to his OCD /anxiety, is now going to be challenged by a change.  This dear therapist who has been so excellent for him has taken a leave to spend more time with her family.  She was not at liberty to reveal the circumstances, but it was serious enough that she is leaving a very well paying position in a mental health and recovery services practice she’s been in for many years, and when she called, she only had the remainder of the week, 2 days left, and she was finished.  Indeed, my heart dropped at the news. 

I swear I saw both my and my son’s lives flash before my eyes as she spoke to me on the phone that day……She asked if I’d like to look elsewhere for a therapist and she could give recommendations, or if I’d like to stay within the practice (my son’s psychiatrist is in practice there also), and I said we’d like to stay if there was another child therapist available.  She recommended the art therapist who does what she does with therapy but also does some art therapy toward the end of the sessions.  I thought that sounded pretty neat and as good a switch as any.  So I’m hoping this new therapist will be a good fit for my son.  Already we will be starting out a little rocky as it’s not our usual day or time slot….hopefully, once established we can schedule much further ahead for our more liked days and times.

 

Tony Shalhoub from the TV series MONK, the detective with OCD.

Although this is scary to me, changing therapists….as this son doesn’t take well to change at all, and not like the rest of us…I mean it comes out in OCD and highly difficult sensitive anxiety behaviors that are tough to work through….I’m trusting that God has a plan.  I’m going to take a guess that the new therapist is Catholic.  I saw her credentials and she attended Marietta College and Ursuline College here in Ohio.  The last therapist was Catholic having grown up in a nearby town that was largely Catholic and attending Walsh University, also Catholic college.  So she was understanding of a Catholic mentality and life style.  It was amazing to me that our insurance would only cover a certain facility, and that given the chances of “beggars can’t be choosers”, what would be the chances of getting a Catholic therapist??  (and maybe even twice??)

I am going to look at this with an open mind and heart and assume that this is the person needed for my son to further his mental health and well being into his high school years and perhaps beyond….as he matures and grows and hopefully is able to get over a few of the hurdles he still has to work toward tackling.  He’s come a long ways but there is always more work to be done….always a work in progress.