I posted this under another thread; i shouldn't have. For the benefit of those who have had negative experiences with therapists, though, i'm posting it again here: I've been to 12 therapists in my life, by my count, and i stopped going to therapists twelve years ago. The best of them were well-meaning, but ineffectual. The worst of them disclosed something i had told her in confidence, and advised my wife to divorce me. The common thread always was, they were dismissive of the damage done by my alcoholic father, indifferent mother, and bullying high school classmates. They, like society as a whole, wanted me to "just get over it." (and come up with $50 - 100 per session.) Only you know what your needs are. Don't be afraid to state them clearly to a therapist when you start. I think (only my opinion) that the people who get the most benefit from therapists are people whose problems are rooted, wholly or at least partially, in an inability to express themselves or a fear of expressing negative feelings.