i need your help! PLEASE.

[emilyemilyemily]

hey, forum. i really, really hate to be *that guy* and do this to you all after not having been here at all over the last several months, but i know there are some people on this site with really big hearts and i need to ask for some help. i have a dear friend named amelia. amelia is in dire need of counseling but has no insurance/any other means by which to pay for professional help. she has seen just about every therapist in her area whose services she can afford and still does not feel that she has received adequate help. i don't know amelia IRL (we're sort of internet pen pals), but she is sweet and wonderful and i feel strongly that she deserves an ample chance at happiness. with that in mind, i have created a fundraising page in hopes of raising enough money to help my friend seek the assistance she needs. i understand fully that these are times of economic hardship for a lot of us, but i would like to take a moment to ask for donations. none is too small. go to fundly.com/ameliastherapyfund to make a payment. if you do not have the means to help out financially, i absolutely understand, but i ask that you send this fundraising page out to your friends and loved ones; the more this gets passed around, the more money this cause gets. one thing, though: please do NOT post this on tumblr. she has an account there and this is supposed to be a surprise 😉

anyway, that's my dumb spiel. thank you so, so much in advance. i am beyond appreciative. <3

 

[Otherworlder]

I shall make a donation shortly. 🙂

 

[shark]

Did she try any county or state sponsored programs?

 

[emilyemilyemily]

Did she try any county or state sponsored programs?

she's tried everything within her means. i really want to make this happen.

 

[Libertine]

i have a dear friend named amelia. amelia is in dire need of counseling but has no insurance/any other means by which to pay for professional help. she has seen just about every therapist in her area whose services she can afford and still does not feel that she has received adequate help. i don't know amelia IRL (we're sort of internet pen pals), but she is sweet and wonderful and i feel strongly that she deserves an ample chance at happiness.

See how difficult this is? We've not met you IRL either, and you are soliciting donations for someone you imply you've never spoken to or seen, as you mention being internet pen pals rather than mentioning skype.

After a certain time, therapy becomes the opiate of the self-indulgent, to paraphrase Marx, and each successive analyst's couch an end in itself, where a new audience rather than a cure is sought.

Is your own burden not heavy enough without also shouldering that of a phantom?

 

[MrTicklefeet]

I'm in agreement with Libertine. I know someone who clearly could use some serious therapy but can't afford it. If I could, I'd help her first.

 

[emilyemilyemily]

See how difficult this is? We've not met you IRL either, and you are soliciting donations for someone you imply you've never spoken to or seen, as you mention being internet pen pals rather than mentioning skype.

After a certain time, therapy becomes the opiate of the self-indulgent, to paraphrase Marx, and each successive analyst's couch an end in itself, where a new audience rather than a cure is sought.

Is your own burden not heavy enough without also shouldering that of a phantom?

just because you're anti-psychotherapy (which, to me, is a ridiculous stance) and don't think this is a worthy cause doesn't mean i need to be lectured. a simple "no thanks" would have been plenty.

 

[ticklishdanny]

sounds tough, what's she dealing with exactly?

 

[Libertine]

just because you're anti-psychotherapy (which, to me, is a ridiculous stance) and don't think this is a worthy cause doesn't mean i need to be lectured. a simple "no thanks" would have been plenty.

I said, and will reiterate, that while psychotherapy can help, it's more harmful than the original problem when it becomes an end in itself. That's because the therapy and one's relationship to the therapist becomes more of an issue than the problem. More non-organic psychiatric issues have been cured by simply taking a deep breath, throwing the metaphorical dice, and getting on with life, no matter how difficult that course of action is at first, than have been solved by spending hours on an analyst's couch.

 

[Dussicar]

This is what makes me sick about what the western world is coming to. Do you have a serious physical/mental/emotional/ problem or imbalance? No problem! We have the best care money can buy!

Oh...You don't have a lot of money? Well, try to enjoy life, then, cuz' we ain't doin' shit cuz' we don't care.

 

[emilyemilyemily]

This is what makes me sick about what the western world is coming to. Do you have a serious physical/mental/emotional/ problem or imbalance? No problem! We have the best care money can buy!

Oh...You don't have a lot of money? Well, try to enjoy life, then, cuz' we ain't doin' shit cuz' we don't care.

RIGHT? it's disgusting.

 

[GQguy]

This is what makes me sick about what the western world is coming to. Do you have a serious physical/mental/emotional/ problem or imbalance? No problem! We have the best care money can buy!

Oh...You don't have a lot of money? Well, try to enjoy life, then, cuz' we ain't doin' shit cuz' we don't care.

This is how it's always been. If you are poor, you lack care. If you are wealthy, you get the best that money can buy. Actually things are better than in the past. In the past poor people were too busy with surviving to even realize that they were depressed. And if their mental disease was dibilitating enough they'd become homeless. Things are better now.

Sorry about your friend. That line about seeing every therapist in town and not getting ample help makes me wonder if there is enough help out there for someone like that. Libertine's response was spot on. Wish you guys luck. More detail on her conditon and even a pic would make the fundraising page more inviting for me/anyone to open their wallets. Even a professional reccomendation from one of her former therapist would be great.

 

[Helena]

This is how it's always been. If you are poor, you lack care. If you are wealthy, you get the best that money can buy. Actually things are better than in the past. In the past poor people were too busy with surviving to even realize that they were depressed. And if their mental disease was dibilitating enough they'd become homeless. Things are better now.

Sorry about your friend. That line about seeing every therapist in town and not getting ample help makes me wonder if there is enough help out there for someone like that. Libertine's response was spot on. Wish you guys luck. More detail on her conditon and even a pic would make the fundraising page more inviting for me/anyone to open their wallets. Even a professional reccomendation from one of her former therapist would be great.

I think this is how I feel too.

I don't fault you for wishing to help someone you think you know well because you are internet friends. However, I wouldn't send money to someone I didn't know in person, and although you mean well, there are many money making scams that prey on well-intentioned good people with big hearts. Be well.

 

[kopfhorer]

See how difficult this is? We've not met you IRL either, and you are soliciting donations for someone you imply you've never spoken to or seen, as you mention being internet pen pals rather than mentioning skype.

After a certain time, therapy becomes the opiate of the self-indulgent, to paraphrase Marx, and each successive analyst's couch an end in itself, where a new audience rather than a cure is sought.

Is your own burden not heavy enough without also shouldering that of a phantom?

Libertine, why must you always be the voice of reason? 🙂

If it were me, I'd wanna talk to her over Skype or something just to make sure I wasn't being trolled. And let's face it, there are such things as therapy junkies, people stuck in a loop who need to be gently but firmly broken out of it.

That aside, my advice is to beware of therapists, public or private, who either rely too heavily on pills or who are apparently unhealthy themselves.