Hinders of Being Waitlisted to see a Therapist

Waitlisted to see a therapist? This can be very challenging on your Mental Health needs as you try to navigate working through, you’re your own well-being and concerns as well as schedules of other health care providers and their availabilities.

Cons of being waitlisted?

Worry and Stress

Being waitlisted is typically linked with adverse psychological and physiological reactions such as worry and stress. The longer the wait and unclear the outcomes of the result these symptoms can be exacerbated. Various mental health illnesses can be detriments to one’s health when there is an excessive wait time to access health such as anxiety, depression, grief, etc. Looking for the right fit to these concerns can cause additional stress. Angela is a therapist intern supporting clients experiencing anxiety and depression. Samuele offers support to clients experiencing grief and loss.

Emotionally Demanding

Waiting for a therapist can be emotionally demanding not only on yourself but others around you. This can be seen in individual counselling, but can be more often heightened when waiting access couples or family therapy. This can cause emotional strain for yourself and/or for others around you as tension can start to rise when trying to keep issues to oneself and bottling up emotions. It is also important to understand that relying on one therapist might be a hinder to your emotional well-being which disables you from accessing other perspectives and help.

Withholding different perspectives & growth.

It can also be very draining to emotionally to put all your eggs in one basket. You might start to feel as if the therapist you are waiting for is the only one that can help you and this might block you from accessing other help that might be available to you. It is important to allow yourself to seek other resources available to you. You might surprise yourself and realize that another therapist might be able to offer you help in various different ways. Each therapist has their own unique tailored way of treating and it takes time to find the right fit!

Prolonged consequences:

The impact of waiting comes with it’s consequences. A study exploring mental health waiting times explored various mental illnesses outlined that higher wait times when accessing and waiting for mental health services was associated with more severe symptomatic outcomes and reduced remission rates with small to moderate effect sizes after they had accessed the help they needed. ( Reichert, A., & Jacobs, R. 2018). The importance of mental health services and accessing them at the right time can be serious determent on the amount of time the healing cycle takes and the outcomes of the healing cycle.

At Vaughan Counselling and Psychotherapy, we have various therapists that offer help in treating all ranges of mental health illnesses/services. We hold diversity and efficient services as one of our top priorities whether it’s booking your first session or booking a consultation. We understand the importance of accessing services in a timely matter as well as finding a therapist that understands your unique needs.

Call us today at 647- 267-9853 to start your journey towards healing.

Reichert, A., & Jacobs, R. (2018). The impact of waiting time on patient outcomes: Evidence

from early intervention in psychosis services in England. Health economics, 27(11), 1772–1787.

https://doi.org/10.1002/hec.3800