I guess. The only therapist I ever clicked with was the last one I went to, back in August and September. He was different from the other therapists I went to because a) he respected my opinions, and was not patronizing or condescending, b) he understood what I was saying and was able to engage with me on an actual intelligent level, unlike most therapists, and c) we had a lot in common. However, I still didn't feel like I was actually learning any SKILLS from him. We would just talk about stuff for an hour. He would never say to me, "Ok, the next time you are in this situation you just described, you should practice this skill." or anything like that. Maybe it's because I only went for eight sessions, but I feel like the actual treatment should be introduced after that many sessions. After all, that is over $100 in co-payments.
Finally I stopped treatment because I felt like it wasn't helping and honestly I felt kind of embarrassed about having to go in the first place. I actually thought he would try to tell me to keep going and wait to see improvements, but he actually accepted me quitting therapy with no objections, so I figured maybe he didn't like me or something and was just pretending to like me the whole time.
Plus it was a huge time commitment -- I would leave work at 5:30-6:00 PM, travel to where his office was, eat dinner, then wander around for half an hour, then go to the office, then he was ALWAYS behind schedule with the previous patients so I would have to wait in the waiting room for 15-30 minutes, then we would have the session, I would leave around 9, I would go meet up with my husband and we would go home together, I wouldn't get home until around 10:30, and then I would have to take a shower and get ready for bed and have no time to relax at the end of the day. All of that just for a one-hour appointment...it was very stressful. Honestly I would resume therapy with him if I could, because at least he was better than most of the alternatives. But now I can't, because my insurance has changed and he is now out-of-network. Even if I had stayed, I would only have been able to see him for a couple more months anyway before quitting my job.