Cannot Afford Therapy; Alternatives?

[reboundstudent]

Some of you might have seen previous threads of mine on this forum about my current emotional health state, which at this point is "neutral" at the very best of times.

 

I've suffered from depression and low self-esteem all my life, but the last few months have really seen an up-tick in my unstableness. I don't think I've been down for this long a period of time since freshman year of college.

 

My friends and posters here have been encouraging me to seek therapy. But the thing is... I really can't afford it. I've looked at prices for therapists in my area, and most of them charge about $80-$120 a session. Even a single session a month would break my budget. I've looked at cutting everything I can, and yet I still couldn't make that payment.

 

My job does have health insurance; however, it has a high deductible, so that I pay the first $2000, after which it changes to co-pay, until the end of the fiscal year (July to July.) $40 a session is certainly more manageable, but I have to afford the $2000 first.

 

So in place of therapy, is there anything else I can do to improve my mental state? (DON'T say meditation, tried it, did not work.) Is there any way I can make therapy affordable? Thanks for all the tips and help!

[jengh]

There should be plenty of therapists that work on a sliding scale... my insurance doesn't cover therapy, so my payments were $10 per session. Look in to that, call around.

[reboundstudent]

I've been hunting around for a sliding fee clinic, but so far, nothing. How did you find yours?

[jengh]

My dad is in the mental health field and gave me a list... perk to being a LCMSW's daughter...

[jengh]

Try calling Community Mental Health and see if they can help. They probably will have a list or even be able to help themselves.