Looking for a Therapist for a Friend in Richmond, VA
October 26, 2009 7:32 PM Subscribe
TherapyFilter: Asking for a friend of a friend—can anyone recommend a competent therapist accessible to someone living in Richmond, Virginia... especially someone especially good at handling issues of anxiety and panic?
(Anonymous for the privacy of the individual[s] in question, in case someone could track them through me.)
Specifically, the friend-of-a-friend (a straight, white male in his early 20s, for what it matters) seems to be having issues with anxiety that increasingly have been manifesting in ways that resemble classic panic attacks—I'm thinking specifically the catastrophizing of physiological arousal leading to the positive-feedback cycle of anxiety that potentiates the attack. A doctor prescribed him an anti-anxiety medication of some sort, but he's considering therapy to help as well. However, to my knowledge, this doctor wasn't really able to proffer any suggestions as to who he could or should see to get some therapeutic assistance. As such, we're looking for recommendations for an excellent mental health professional to help him through his problems. I've heard that while many therapies tend to have similar therapeutic effects for many problems, panic disorders do have a history of better treatment through Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, so maybe keep that in mind? (That being said, if you or someone you know had a positive experience with someone from a different therapeutic modality for similar problems, feel free to recommend them, too!)
(There's also a thread wherein said friend identified said friend-of-a-friend's mannerisms as rather remarkably fitting the diagnostic criteria of Paranoid Personality disorder; however, this is a Wikipedia diagnosis, neither of us are clinical professionals, and the friend-of-the-friend is interested in dealing with his anxiety, so speaking in terms of both pragmatism and respect for his own ability to manage his well-being, anxiety/panic would be the primary specialty he'd be looking for. Nevertheless, it does characterize at least some issues as an individual close to him—and, to an extent, he—perceives them, so could be relevant if you have numerous doctors in mind and someone has a relevant specialty.)
If you don't have any specific recommendations, you can still be helpful! As is evident by my asking the question, neither I nor the friend (nor the friend-of-the-friend, I would imagine) have the faintest idea of how to find a high-quality therapist anywhere, nevermind in the Richmond area. If there are any general sites or resources we can look at—especially that provide something approximating reviews—that'd be excellent as well!
If you don't feel comfortable posting here, toss me a line at mefi.richmond.therapy@gmail.com
Thank you in advance for your help!
(Anonymous for the privacy of the individual[s] in question, in case someone could track them through me.)
Specifically, the friend-of-a-friend (a straight, white male in his early 20s, for what it matters) seems to be having issues with anxiety that increasingly have been manifesting in ways that resemble classic panic attacks—I'm thinking specifically the catastrophizing of physiological arousal leading to the positive-feedback cycle of anxiety that potentiates the attack. A doctor prescribed him an anti-anxiety medication of some sort, but he's considering therapy to help as well. However, to my knowledge, this doctor wasn't really able to proffer any suggestions as to who he could or should see to get some therapeutic assistance. As such, we're looking for recommendations for an excellent mental health professional to help him through his problems. I've heard that while many therapies tend to have similar therapeutic effects for many problems, panic disorders do have a history of better treatment through Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, so maybe keep that in mind? (That being said, if you or someone you know had a positive experience with someone from a different therapeutic modality for similar problems, feel free to recommend them, too!)
(There's also a thread wherein said friend identified said friend-of-a-friend's mannerisms as rather remarkably fitting the diagnostic criteria of Paranoid Personality disorder; however, this is a Wikipedia diagnosis, neither of us are clinical professionals, and the friend-of-the-friend is interested in dealing with his anxiety, so speaking in terms of both pragmatism and respect for his own ability to manage his well-being, anxiety/panic would be the primary specialty he'd be looking for. Nevertheless, it does characterize at least some issues as an individual close to him—and, to an extent, he—perceives them, so could be relevant if you have numerous doctors in mind and someone has a relevant specialty.)
If you don't have any specific recommendations, you can still be helpful! As is evident by my asking the question, neither I nor the friend (nor the friend-of-the-friend, I would imagine) have the faintest idea of how to find a high-quality therapist anywhere, nevermind in the Richmond area. If there are any general sites or resources we can look at—especially that provide something approximating reviews—that'd be excellent as well!
If you don't feel comfortable posting here, toss me a line at mefi.richmond.therapy@gmail.com
Thank you in advance for your help!
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Mysticalchick at 7:53 AM on October 27, 2009