Does Anyone Know What The Best Course Of Action Is?

Question: Does anyone know what the best course of action is when the counsellor you have been seeing for sometime refers you on to someone else and you simply can't make the same sort of connection?

Answer: I would have assumed that before your previous counsellor had referred you on, there would have been very thorough and detailed discussions as to precisely why he or she was advocating this.

It is really not possible for anyone to guess at what the problems with the new therapist may be. It could relate to unresolved issues with the previous one or difficulties engaging with the new. Perhaps the "fit" is just not right. Therapists are first and foremost people too and we have just as many quirks and idiosyncrasies as anyone else. We are certainly not all easily interchangeable, just because we happen to be professionals.

Talk to and try and work out what these difficulties may be with the new person before you give up in despair but if it seems truly hopeless, I would suggest you re-contact your old therapist, explain your dilemma and perhaps, ask for another referral. Failing this, you may simply have to shop around for a while and talk to a number of potential therapists, until you feel you have found the sort of person best suited to your needs.

Answer provided David White, Psychotherapist