Therapist In Therapy Series: 3 Suggestions for When you Can't Afford Therapy

So...I have a confession! I had to stop therapy! Apparently my job insurance only covers three free sessions and after that you have to pay a copay. And the copay is a whopping $35. Now to most that may not seem like a lot but that's $140 a month and even if I do every other week, its still $70 which translates to about 12 bottle of formula that my son likes and right now, that is just not a trade off I am willing to take right now!

This dilemma of course has me frustrated and thinking long and hard about this and about how ironic it is that one of the most challenging jobs in the nation doesn't offer therapy for free. I am curious about other helping professions too. For social workers, teachers, and even sometimes counselors we are already severely underpaid and have to cope with annoyingly high healthcare costs through our employer and get taxed tremendously. My employer constantly brags about the great benefits, but in reality most of their employees are living paycheck to paycheck and barely making it. The added stress of working an emotional straining job AND having to scrape financially is a toll and heavy burden that often would require someone outside of family to talk to. But for $35 a week, its just going to have to wait. I am working on budgeting to save for at least once a month now because every problem has to have a solution, right (Social work thought processes!)

So the question is how do you manage if you absolutely cannot afford therapy at the time? And I am definitely trying to figure this out. Here are three things I am trying to do while I am not in therapy.

1. Writing

I am horrible at this actually. Well at least lately. My schedule is so tight and when I get home I am extra tired, but the reality is when I do write, I am releasing so much and it helps me to pick back up. I have several notebooks and sometimes I pull up a memo in my phone if I am on the go. Writing helps me to process my thoughts because sometimes they are all jumbled together with emotion and logic mixing in and making very little sense. Writing helps me to compartmentalize and gather my thoughts a little better. Sometimes I use stickers to help pretty things up which also at the same time makes me slow down.

2. Mindfulness

This is a summary of a couple of things. Mindfulness is basically being aware of yourself in the present moment so that you can center yourself. Mindfulness also allows you to identify the emotion you are feeling in the moment so that you can act accordingly. One late evening my son was crying uncontrollably and he needed a diaper change, I was extra tired and my husband came in to help and I snapped on him which was totally unwarranted. I immediately had to center myself and realize my feelings had nothing to do with him and I had to apologize. It's so hard to admit when you are wrong but when you can identify where what you are feeling is coming from, it keeps you from displacing your feelings onto someone else. This helps when working with your clients, students, etc. as well.

3. Eating healthier

Don't think for one minute that because I am making these suggestions that I have them all together. I haven't quite worked this one out yet! I totally had chicken fingers, fries and a milkshake for lunch yesterday. I am well aware, however, that if I eat better, I may feel better. I know that certain foods boost your mood and while the milkshake probably boosted the heck out of my endorphins, it didn't do much for the fat content building up in my body from all of those carbs I ate, especially with little physical activity.

This is the truth. Mental health and physical health go hand in hand. When we are stressed we don't want to eat carrots. That is just reality. So my goal is to eat healthier. I want my son to eat healthy food, so I need to as well. i didn't do a very good job when I was pregnant so I feel like I owe it to all of us to eat better.

My hope is to get back in therapy as soon as possible, because honestly, my therapist is SO DOPE! And just in those three sessions she gave me SO MUCH clarity even as a helping professional. So, if you can afford it DO IT! If you are in financial strain right now, that's okay, find something to supplement until you can get there! And honestly there are a bunch of other things that you can do, these are the things I am prioritizing for my life. Find what works for you! Let's take care of ourselves out there ya'll! Until next time!