lazyweb: Helpful Interview Qs for a New Therapist

[jesse_the_k]

My mental health therapist is retiring. In the next few weeks I'm scheduled for "brief consults" with possible successors.

I've got a couple questions prepared, and I'd love to know what I don't know to ask.

Have you interviewed therapists? Was there a question/comment which proved useful (or harmful)?

Comments

Re: Thanks

[adrian_turtle]

Access intimacy is a new concept for me. It's not clear to me that my interaction with another disabled person will have an aura of access intimacy; some people with disabilities have a lot of internalized ableism. As far as I can tell, they used to teach it in medical school. It's the attitude, not just the experience. I may be misunderstanding, as the concept is new to me.

Re: Thanks

[jesse_the_k]

I think you've got it right. Ableism is certainly front and center in the medical school curriculum!

I've been fortunate to know some people where it's easy and safe to be my whole self, including my impairments and my experiences with ableism. Some of them are disabled and others not. I could breathe easier because my therapist made it clear she understood the frustration of being mis-seen, the challenge of creating workarounds and the structural inequalities that makes them necessary.

There are definitely nondisabled people who offer support without strings, without fuss, without needing to score good person points. I've also encountered disabled people deeply invested in performing independence, hyper-competence, and separation from the category of disability.