I don't know if you'd be interested in NAMI for some support or not?... A few people on the bipolar board think it's wonderful support and I see that it is also has meetings focused on PTSD

http://www.nami.org/Template.cfm?Section=posttraumatic_stress_disorder&Template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=123099

Thanks for the link, but there wasn't too much on that site or among the links it provides that were of particular use to me at this point in my search. I had hoped that at least some of the service finding links would lead to services that could help in my type of situation. Unfortunately it was all just services I've seen/tried before.

The free and low cost services (the ones that remained after the budget cuts) where I live are constantly filled well beyond capacity. You often either have to have already been accepted in by a program before it had to stop accepting new clients, or be lucky enough to win a lottery to be accepted into one in order to get into some of the remaining assistance programs.

Some of the other remaining services/programs have requirements that make it questionable as to whether or not they actually make a person better off with them. This includes requiring that the their clients not have a job (or any other consistent source of income) and can't get one while using that service, because if they do that service will cut them off. In exchange the service will provide them with a meager amount of money to try to live off of and pay for therapy/meds with.

I found this re affordable therapy

http://oppc.mentalhealthexcellence.org/cities/national/

NAMI is just about support... People with like illnesses supporting one another and it's free

I was thinking that if you lived anywhere near a university they may offer therapy if they have a PHD psychology program at a very reasonable cost.... The students would work under a professor

Thanks for this latest link. The group looks like they would be helpful, but at the prices they still have to charge I would only be able to afford a single session each month.

When I used their locator tool to find the nearest therapist in their network though, there was only one counselor listed as being within 100 miles of where I live. They aren't listed as one who treats cases of PTSD either.

I guess I should consider myself "lucky". I'm disabled for PTSD and depression and I have medicare. Usually my co pay is 20.00, but if I don't have it then it's ok. I also have fibromyalgia and my co pay there is 13.00. So, I guess I'm lucky for that or I wouldn't be able to get my therapy or meds.

just wanted to tell you that counselors with an MA or MS in counseling or social work actually tend to have a lot better counseling training and more ongoing training, esp if you find one that specializes in PTSD, than Drs in the field do, esp if you are talking about MDs....if you mean psychologists, they get better trauma related and counseling training than MDs, but most of their training is still usually more geared towards clinical settings (in-patient, for exp where they tend to deal more with things like schizophrenia, psychosis, etc)

the majority of an MDs training, even a psych MD, is about general medicine and about drugs, they don't get taught counseling techniques or get more than an over view of PTSD and trauma

social workers' and counselors' training is almost entirely geared towards counseling techniques and understanding what their clients are dealing with (along with some general training about helping find other additional resources for clients and a few other general things)..

...their training covers trauma and PTSD fairly well, but any who specialize in it, or deal with it a lot, also take ongoing training specifically in it (more ongoing training is required of counselors and social workers than Drs, regardless of specialty - I know that seems crazy, but it's true, but generally that training is in the area or areas of specialty so they get to know those areas extremely well)

this is not at all to put Drs down, or anything, but it's to say that rather than writing off MAs and MSs, you could very likely find better help for what you need from them than from a Dr

Thanks for all the advice. The directory I found on a site aimed at helping people find therapists/doctors/etc in their area listed professionals who specialize in trauma and/or PTSD I think. (It was listing those who are listed as able to treat one or both.)

It was also a pretty good variety of different types of professionals (therapists, social workers, clinical, doctors, etc) and education levels. As long as they're affordable, understanding, able to treat the issues I'm having and aren't the type of person who falls into any of my major trigger categories I'm happy.

Another problem I'm facing with all of this is that I am very reluctant to go to one who is a woman. My issues stem from many, many years of emotional and psychological abuse prepetrated nearly exclusively by the girls/women (including my own mother) around me as I grew up, and even thru college.

Shortly before seeking support groups it had reached the point where on a bad day even thinking about interacting with women could result in brief periods of very mild psychosis or visual/audio hallucinations (I don't know for sure if "psychosis" is the correct term for stress/trauma induced temporary hallucinations). Thankfully having a supportive outlet like this site to talk about these issues and vent has helped bring those particular issues back under control.

The point I'm getting at is that for me, seeing a female therapist/counselor/etc about my problems would be like a rape victim going to a therapist who happens to look and sound like their rapist.


Generally I am able to become confortable speaking with women if I've known them for a few months (such as a coworker) and in that time they have never done or said anything that would lead me to suspect they might be insensitive to my issues or turn out to be another one who will be abusive to me in some way or another.

This is part of the reason I want to find a therapist or other professional who is affordable enough that I could afford at least 2 sessions with per month. That way if I am forced to go with one who is a woman I can hopefully become comfortable enough around her to work on getting well sooner than if I were only seeing her once a month.

Yeah. A decent size chunk of the work is out of the way now that I have a list of possible professionals to turn to for help. However, I still have to sort through it to find the ones able to help with more than just one of my problems (to avoid having to hire several when I might not even be able to afford just 1), weed out the ones most likely to be too much of a trigger for me to handle, and narrow the search further to those who are actually covered by my insurance.

I also still have to weed out the ones who won't do sliding-scale fees, determine which ones will do sessions on weekends, and find out which of the remaining options will accept pocket lint as payment.