New and Need Help

Hello, I'm new to the forum....I've had crippling anxiety, PTSD, and agoraphobia for at least 5 years, to the point where fear completely runs my life, I can no longer hold a job, and have had to go on disability. I've been on countless meds, which my body is very resistant to -- none have helped, which adds to my feeling of hopelessness. I feel like "me" is gone -- even leaving my apartment to go to my mailbox is terrifying for me. This is not living, it's just existing. I know I need help, but am too scared to leave home to get it. Does anyone know of any therapists who do phone therapy in the US, and at a reduced rate, since I'm now on a very fixed income? Thanks so much.

I'm going to guess since you've had no responses here, the answer is no, no-one has suggestions. But some ideas anyway. Do you have a regular healthcare provider that you could talk to and ask for a recommendation? Have you rung therapists in your local area to find out if they offer phone services? It's helpful if they are local, because the goal would of course be to help you overcome the fear, which would mean you could then continue working with them in their office.

Some therapists offer online support. This may be unfair of me, but I would be VERY wary of this. I know two personally, but it is in a specific area of therapy, and tends to be a way of following up after personal appointments, not an online-exclusive arrangement. I think it might be very hard to differentiate between genuine providers and sellers of snake oil. My own bias here.

Thanks so much for your answer. I've called therapists in my area that do phone sessions, but they're unfortunately too expensive for me right now. I'm going to do a few sessions with someone in Northern California (I'm in Southern Cal.) at a "reduced" rate, but even that is a bit beyond me right now, and I don't know how long I'll be able to continue with him. There was a local therapist who even offered to come to my apartment, but she charged about $170...much too much for me. I agree it would have been good to find someone local, so that I could hopefully graduate to seeing them in person...but kind of in a Catch-22 right now. (I agree that I would not go for online support, but also because I need to hear a human voice, not merely words on a computer screen.)

Good luck with it! Keep on posting around here if it's helpful, too, or head to off-topic/ if you need a break from everything else.