After being diagnosed with an anxiety disorder in the middle of my parents'divorce, I was encouraged to go to therapy, so I did. After I went through a few weeks of psychological testing the physiatrist who tested me suggested that I should see him. He thought it would be a good fit since knew more about me as a person and my mental health. He was calm and easygoing which made me feel at ease going into therapy. He complimented me for my sense of humor and that made me feel good. After a few appointments with him, I decided he wasn't a good match. Being a female and having an older male therapist made me not want to ever open up about female related issues. He was aggressive about making appointments and got mad at me for not knowing my exact schedule. I said to his face, "you just care about the money, not me." Immediately after I said that I decided that would be the last time I would ever see him.

After my first therapist went through, I got a referral to another therapist at the end of my senior year. This therapist was a younger female, so I thought it would be easier for me to open up about myself. At first, I really liked her because she seemed to be in touch with females my age and I thought I could relate to her. After seeing her a few times I started to get very uncomfortable and I couldn't figure out why. Every time I would walk into her office I would get this strange wave of anxiety and I thought it was a bit off. She was genuine for the most part but she reacted so strongly to the things I said, it made me feel self-conscious. She also seemed unprofessional and immature by the way she conducted herself in the office. I felt like she tried too hard to be "cool" and it was so bizarre. She cried when I told her about things that weren't super traumatic and it made me feel like my problems were a burden to her. The thing that triggered me the most was when she asked me dumb questions and treated me like a younger child. I decided I was not going to pay $200 for someone who was going to question my intelligence. I decided to stop seeing her for good.

After my last session with my female therapist, I completely gave up on therapy as a whole. I felt like therapy was a complete scam and I couldn't trust anybody. I told my dad that I wasn't a good candidate for therapy and I was never going to a therapist for a while.

A few weeks after ending therapy, I had a hard day so I decided to give therapy another shot. I told my dad about my horrible past experiences, so he gave me another referral. He referred me to a female who specializes in couples counseling, but she does individual therapy as well. After my first session with her, I felt so empowered. She said that the experiences I shared with her had so much richness and volume and it made me feel so good about myself. She complimented me on being brave and strong, and it made my day. She is also so organized so she helped me find things to work on which were anxiety, anger, and balance. She added the balance aspect which was super cool because I wouldn't have thought of that on my own. I felt very productive after my first session because we covered so much in one day. My favorite thing about her is that she finds one desirable quality in a person and she helps that person strengthen that one quality to make them feel even more confident as an individual. I have always been a sensitive child and I still am to this day and she told me that my sensitivity was a gift. It was the first time I ever heard that. She said that I can use my sensitivity to help me with my strengths and that I just need to find balance within my sensitivity so it doesn't overpower me.

She is so intuitive and puts everything I feel into a puzzle and feels her way through to put the pieces together by finding not just a solution, but understanding and a solution.