Therapy.

[darkxdreamer13]

I'm starting to think I need a therapist. What types of therapy are good? I saw a post on here about art therapy, what's that?

I have a lot of SH and self hate and pressure issues, and I've had them for
years now.

Also, how should I ask or approach my parents with this? I've tried asking before but they just suggested talking more to them and friends. They probably don't take me seriously.

Any advice would be great, thanks!

[PSY]

There are sooo many different therapy techniques, so it's hard to say which would be most effective in helping you cope with the self-harm and self-esteem/social issues. Cognitive-behavioral therapy could help you re-think a number of situations and assist you in altering the way you address those situations behaviorally. Psychodynamic therapy may also be useful. I think the most important thing is to find a therapist whom you can connect with. If you can have a trusting relationship with your therapist, then you'll probably benefit from the experience regardless of the therapy method that is utilized. =)

I don't know your parents personally, nor do I know how much you've already disclosed to them. Do they know about the self-harm? If not, I would tell them and insist upon getting a referral from your regular doctor.

[Dr.Bobby]

You know, there are many types of 'therapy' out there, but what you need is someone with experience with your type of issues. What the modality (type of treatment) isn't as important as the experience of the provider. Generally speaking, things like art therapy, music therapy, dance therapy, etc., are used in conjunction with 'traditional' one on one talk therapy, the individual therapist determining that the other types of therapy might also be useful.

So, what you need is a good therapist to start with, and that can be a psychologist, psychiatrist, or psychiatric social worker. Usually, you get a referral either from someone who knows one personally, or from your MD who knows them professionally. Again, experience is most important, the more experience doctors have, the better the chances are they can effectively treat you.

How to tell parents comes up a lot. There are many ways to do this, but typically you should plan out in advance telling them how you feel, how long, how it interferes with your life and functioning, and what you've been doing..in your case, even show them your S/H. Then, tell them you need their help to stop and feel better and need them to get you to a therapist.

Most parents respond best to a direct, mature, detailed convo that leaves little doubt to what their response needs to be. Just don't 'Wing it', those types of convos usually don't get your message across as effectively.