Any tips: My therapist refuses to believe that I hear voices that

[elshiva]

tell me to kill myself and that I am a bitch. Is there anyway to convince her? She is a good therapists but she just won't buy that I am hearing voices. They can be very loud and scary sometimes, but she says they are "just thoughts." I beg to differ. Any suggestions? Thanks.

[MrMonk]

1. What is the context of your therapist's remarks?

Was she being dismissive or attempting to offer some comfort?
If she was dismissing your concerns, I would suggest trying to communicate your distress over these occurrences. If she remains unsympathetic, I would think about finding a different therapist, and not bother trying to convince her.

The voices, IMO, are no more dangerous than thoughts that come unbidden, but they are a great nuisance. I've had them; it's as if there is some small person sitting on my shoulder, just behind my left ear, spitting out nasty sound bites. Fortunately, I had a psychiatrist who was sympathetic. He prescribed low doses of Risperdal and the problem went away. The next psychiatrist stopped the drug, but restarted it after about a month, when the nasty little man came back.

As I understand it, statements such as the ones that you hear from your "voice" may reflect psychological problems that should be dealt with. Here are some links that you might want to consider:

http://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/page.cfm?pagecode=PMAMHV
http://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/profilenews.cfm?areacode=mh_hearing_voices_news&pagecode=PMAMHVLN&print=1
http://www.enotalone.com/article/3109.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hearing_Voices_Movement
http://www.psychologyinfo.com/schizophrenia/

There is much more information on the Internet.

IME, the voices themselves are harmless, but they could drive a person nuts. :)

On edit: removed link to an author who apparently confuses "psychological" with "psychic".

[mrgorth]

2. She is not a good therapist

Run.

[bloom]

3. I'd agree that you should find a different therapist

- one who understands the difference between hallucinations and self-talk.

I wouldn't presume to tell someone that the voices someone hears are not voices.

If you really like her otherwise - you could see about getting a prescription from a psychiatrist that would help with the voices and such - and just go to her for counseling. That is my suggestion.

[DemExpat]

4. I can only say that none of the therapists I ever had

made any negative judgement on any of my experiences, certainly never tried to talk me out of my perceptions by refusing to believe me.
I was always guided to examine it myself and to try to make (my) sense of it all.
Not sure there is anything you can do with this except to discuss this with her more.

:hug:

DemEx

[NMMNG]

5. And how would she know what is going on in your head?

The only thing I can think of to try to convince her is to write a detailed description (sort of a "diary") of the voices/commands as they occur. Note the date, time, what the voice said, how loud it was, if it was easy or hard to ignore (you can rate this on a 5 or 10 point scale if you want), and any other criteria you want to include. If you have an appropriate program on your computer you can create a simple chart to check off, which can make this all easier. I've had a few people in my program at work use such charts to track voices when they are bothered by them.

If she still refuses to believe you I'd recommend another therapist.

[Tab]

6. I would immediately seek out

a psychologist or preferably a psychiatrist. Voices in the head can be symptoms of organic issues like schizophrenia (treatable) if not other things, but for a therapist to dismiss your report is very concerning. She may be trying to reassure you that they are "just thoughts" as opposed to someone else controlling you (and some people do believe they are under outside control) but the fact that suicidal thoughts are part of it should be a red flag for her. If not, find someone for whom it is a red flag.

Is your therapist a psychologist, or does she just have a Masters, or is she just a "counselor"? If she's not a psychologist (or psychiatrist) she may not have the background to recognize certain problems. If they are just thoughts, that is, you're thinking you're bad, that's one thing. If they really are voices, then that's another situation entirely, and it could be organic in nature (meaning, chemical/physical) and needs to be dealt with.

If you want to give her the benefit of the doubt, consider trying to convince her that you literally hear them as voices, not as just thoughts you're having. If that still doesn't get her concerned, you definitely need to find someone for whom it does. And in the meantime, if they are suicidal thoughts, if not her, then find someone else immediately, or the hospital, or an 800 number to call (PM me if you need such a number - I'll get you one).