Chicago Therapist for Intelligent Depressive

October 4, 2011 3:27 PM

Chicago Therapist Filter: Looking for a therapist for an extremely intelligent person suffering from long-term depression.

I have a friend who has struggled with intermittent depression for more than a decade. Things in his life have become very stressful lately and he's been struggling again. After initially being very adamant that he wouldn't see a therapist, he has expressed tentative interest in starting therapy but can't seem to find anyone that appeals to him.

He's very intelligent and has struggled with this for many years. I mention these things because he needs someone who can operate at the level he does and who can deal with a depression that my friend sees as an integral part of himself--"depressed" is the way that he is and the way he'll always be, according to him.

Needs to be downtown or northside. Extra bonus points if they have a website or profile on a site like Psychology Today. Thanks for your suggestions.

posted by anonymous to health & fitness (4 answers total)

Kate Schechter will match your friend in intelligence.
posted by firstdrop at 3:47 PM on October 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

No knowledge of Chicago or its therapists, but you should tell your friend that the 'extremely intelligent' thing is really useless here. He's not going to be discussing particle physics with the shrink, is he? I use words my therapist doesn't know all the time; she says 'what does that mean?' and I rephrase myself and we move on. Depression is more about very basic feelings, and even a pedestrian therapist would be able to help.
posted by Gilbert at 8:24 PM on October 4, 2011 [3 favorites]

A good therapist will be smarter than him in the areas that are relevant to alleviating his depression. It's (almost) like asking your car mechanic to be brilliant in general as well as being great at fixing cars. A mechanic's brilliance in areas other than car repair is to his/her credit, but has nothing to do with fixing your car.

Rapport + Confidence in therapist's ability to solve the problem.

A good therapist will be very convincing about how they plan to attack your issues. They will explain in detail what they think might work, how to approach it, the timeline for doing so. Just as a good mechanic gives you the straight poop about your car's problems.

A good therapist will also insist that rapport is very important, and would suggest you go somewhere else if a rapport doesn't materialize.
posted by TheRedArmy at 10:17 AM on October 5, 2011

Also, the good ones are probably generally pretty smart.
posted by TheRedArmy at 10:18 AM on October 5, 2011