Im devastated. Losing therapist!

DammitJanet

Well-Known Member
Well thanks to budget cuts all over...guess state and nationally, what little vestige of mental health care we were able to put together for me through this therapy center is being cut out. I had already lost "real" therapy because Medicare refused to pay for it because they wont cover Licensed Professional Counselors. Medicaid does but Medicare wont even though they have the same education as Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW)'s. One just has a different bent. Social work heads more toward human services and counselors heads more into the psychological field. Back when the Medicare handbook was written there was only a degree in Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW). It needs to be re-written.

But...the rule is that if medicare wont pay for a covered service and you have medicaid, then medicaid wont pay for it either. Im in a catch 22.

They were getting me in because Medicare does pay for case management so I was able to get some hours a month for that so we just met and called it case management instead of therapy.

Now they have cut case management so Im SOL. I could go find a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) but I have a deep distrust for SW's plus I simply cannot imagine starting from scratch with someone new. I have developed a deep bond with my therapist. I trust her and trust doesnt come easy for me. Im borderline. You just dont do this to a borderline patient.

I have till February.

We have hope that maybe we can get a group going that will be something I can attend. Maybe. Who knows.

There is also the remote possibility that my therapist is trying to get me and another of her clients to put together a presentation to get hired on as a peer support services person. You have to be diagnosed with a serious mental health issue but be working on your own recovery to have this position...lol. Essentially we would be an advocate and helper to other people who are not doing too well. Kind of like what us warrior moms have done all our lives. Going out to help people who have gone into the psychiatric hospital or jails or just need an ear.

I really need to think about this because if I do it, it means I lose SSDI and all that entails. So much to think about. It may be an opportunity that never comes again. Sigh.

Im in tears here thinking about all this.
 

hearts and roses

Mind Reader
What a crummy situation. I don't even know what or where to suggest you go for help with this, so I will just keep you in my thoughts and hope that answers come that are right for you. Sending many gentle hugs, Janet. Sleep on it, pray on it, meditate on it.
 

Shari

IsItFridayYet?
Wow...that really hoovers.

I wonder, tho...could you "volunteer" as support services person in exchange for sessions?
 

DammitJanet

Well-Known Member
I dont know...good question Shari.

Im researching this whole Certified Peer Support Services position and I really dont see how they can put us in there. I think its a nice idea but probably far-fetched. You have to take a course that is 40 hours long and costs $250. It is also not offered locally. We would have to travel out of town to do this. Then we have to take another 20 hours of training locally that is normal stuff like red cross, disaster training, restraints, medication management, note taking, etc. All this while we have to swear we are seriously mentally ill but working on recovery...lol.
 

DammitJanet

Well-Known Member
I just came back here to ponder some more even if no one listens...lol.

I was rolling this whole thing over in my head and I remembered a small thing that my therapist said about how her agency had just had to cut some staff members. I asked her how if they had to cut staff...why then would the agency be willing to hire us (these new PSS positions) on? She said well we would be bringing money into the agency because we would be the lowest paid workers and we would be doing work that would free up some of the higher paid QP folks.

That got me to thinking as I read through some state regs. Evidently there has to be like 1 psychiatrist, then 1 or 2 masters level Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) or LPC which are the QP's and then there can be the AP's which are the associate professionals which are things like case managers etc. Then there would be us lowly peer support specialists. Evidently, the AP's have mostly been eliminated because case management has almost been eliminated. There arent a whole lot of them left.

So what is hoped for is that they can get more folks that are seriously mentally ill but "in recovery for one year" (ha!) to take over the work of the AP's so that the QP's have more time to do the real work. In reality, us crazy people will be doing lots and lots of work that was being done by actual mental health professionals before!

Talk about the inmates taking over the asylum!!!
 

Wiped Out

Well-Known Member
Staff member
Janet,
I'm very sorry to hear this, I know how much you care for this therapist. My mom is actually in a similar situation where because of a forced change in insurance she will need to lose her psychiatrist. She is devastated.
 

Suz

(the future) MRS. GERE
I'm sorry too, Janet. You've had such a good rapport and made real progress with this therapist. This really stinks.

Hugs.
Suz
 

DammitJanet

Well-Known Member
Im not doing at all well with the mere thought of this. Just knowing that there is less than 6 weeks of appts left is making me go bonkers. I wish I had never started therapy at all. I would have been better off never even learning to trust someone outside my own little box. It feels like I took down my bricks only to have someone smash me in the head. I will never do that again. I have never told my psychiatrist the stuff I told her. I never told ANYONE the stuff I told her. Now I have no one to talk to. No one.

We had just figured out I had some more stuff that had come unstuck from past trauma that we needed to deal with before I could move on. I was starting to have memories. Now I have to shut that back up because there is no way in hell I am going to deal with that now. I had just started to be able to get out of the house and go places. Now I will go back and hide in the house again. Back behind my wall where no one can hurt me again.

Thanks congress...thanks for tying up a bill in the house and senate for the last 6 years.
 

flutterby

Fly away!
I'm so sorry, Janet. This is truly idiotic.

I know it probably won't do anything, but contact your senator and house rep. They need to know the real life ramifications of their inaction.
 

klmno

Active Member
I really hope something works out for you to still see her. If you can't find an answer for the near future, I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for you that it's only a temporary problem. A good therapist is so hard to find- I can understand why you wouldn't want to lose her. You've been thru enough to know that they aren't all equal. Good luck with this- one way or another.
 

Hound dog

Nana's are Beautiful
Janet I'm so very sorry. This really bites big time. It's not fair to the patients who need these services.

Would your therapist, being as close to you as she is, be willing to form a "group session" for one...YOU? I saw it on Monk.......that's how he was able to continue with his therapist once he had used up all his private therapy with his insurance. It may not be possible to do in RL, but that's what popped into my head.

(((hugs)))
 

timer lady

Queen of Hearts
Janet, my dear friend, you need to find a way to calm yourself. This is a devastating position to be in - no doubt. Remember, you were the one doing the work with your therapist - you were the one with the strength to confront each & every issue that needed to be confronted.

Your therapist has guided this journey thus far & has been a huge emotional support during this journey.

Circumstances have forced you to look beyond this person & I have no doubt you can do this! At times a therapist can become a symbiotic person in your life - good for you but at the same time a parasite because with-o this person you convince yourself you cannot do it on your own.

You & I know this isn't the case.

As to the job - do you have disability or ssdi? Recently SS sent me a letter telling me I could take a position or have retraining done with-o losing my benefits.
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
Janet it is so scary how they are just cutting services like that. They are doing that here too. I love my therapist and it would be hard to lose her. Yet in these times, it could happen.

I am so sorry for you. (((Hugs))) is all I can offer.
 
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