Free Therapy Sessions in LA/Gaia?

[Seneca-ERRAREHUMANUMEST]

Satil

Seneca-ERRAREHUMANUMEST

Satil

I'm on the other side of the country, so I can't help you much in terms of free counseling unless you live in Tennessee!

Almost nowhere will offer totally free counseling unless you are willing to go for religious counseling. Ministers often offer free counseling, specially in larger cities with heavy gang activity, such a L.A. Churches are pretty major in the rehabilitation of former gang members and I think that it's a good avenue for you to explore.

Community mental health centers offer counseling ALMOST free. They go on a sliding scale based on income, and you can be charged a very small fee, and even that they do not always expect to be paid. I worked for a year at a community mental health center and we only collected on 60% of our cases. We saw 26k people in less than a year, and this was in very rural Tennessee. Community mental health centers will not turn you into collections either, so it won't damage the credit you're trying to build.

I don't think you're really quite "depressed". I think you have what is known as an adjustment disorder with depressed mood. You went through a drastic life change and you don't really know how to cope. All of your old coping skills are useless. In this case, just anyone willing to listen would work for you.

Oh! In major cities (especially L.A.) there are a few gang member rehabilitation programs that you could look into. Try calling your local Human Services department, or look under the social services section of your phone book and just start dialing.

Thank you so much! On the other forums, it looks like all they could narrow it down to was a religious figure as well.

I'll look into community mental health centers next. Considering I just applied for unemployment, I'm not sure how it would work out, but it couldn't hurt to try. And Human Services.

Plus, it feels weird when you know you've done stuff that's illegal and you're trying to talk to other people about it. It's like they tend to think you're less of a person- even my boyfriend.

You bring in your stubs for unemployment and they adjust to that, or you sign a contract that you have no employment.

And no problem. I actually am a therapist and while I do like to get paid, I consider it very unfair that there is such a barrier to mental health treatment. Mental health treatment is still considered a luxury in the United States and it makes me very sad.

And it does suck, and many counselors do feel that way. To go to Grad school you either have to work your a** off (me) or have someone pay your way. People who have their parents paying for them tend to be a little more sheltered and usually go through a bit of culture shock when they learn what people go through or have resulted through to survive. Not all of them of course, but a lot of them exist. That is usually worked out of them in a few years.

It's one of the reason gang member rehabilitation groups are so successful. They have a lot of peer counselors, which means they are people going through the same things in life, or did go through them at some point.

Yeah... you know, when I was a kid, I never thought I'd be one of those people needing one of those counselors! I was a model student. But, well, certain circumstances in life converged and here you have me.

When my boyfriend was in grad school, he actually had a professor tell him how everyone in their field should get therapy. He's an actor and he believes thoroughly in the purgative catharsis both his craft and therapy can offer. And, because he was a grad student, he got it at a discount, thanks to the student insurance that was automatically paid for! He only had to pay ten dollars a week to see someone top-notch. If I at least don't manage to find anything else, I know I'll be going back to school at some point in my life after I get back on my feet. Not necessarily immediately, but there's a field I have an interest in joining later in life.

But he got such a great therapist, perfect for him too. Too bad I'm not insured at all, heh. Maybe later.