Codependency Support Group

I've been seeing this therapist for two years and I really feel I've come a long way with her guidance. She's helped me understand my mother's influence on my life since childhood and all the ways she (my mom) tried to control and manipulate me. The therapist also helped me see patterns in my life, like dating people similar to my mom, because they are familiar to me. I like seeing her as a counselor and I like her as a person, although I do not know her personally, she's nice.

She's also a Christian pastor, which I like. She's married to the former pastor of my church, so we know a lot of the same people from church. That said, about two months ago she brought up a rumor she'd heard from another patient, who goes to church also. She said she told me only because she cares about me. She didn't tell me who but I have a pretty good idea since I've seen several people from church in her waiting room before. That didn't bug me--the fact she brought church into therapy did. The two shouldn't mix right? I can talk about my own experiences, or my own faith, its my therapy. But when someone else talks about me in therapy she can't share what THEY said during my therapy right? Then about a month ago she said my insurance hadn't paid for two sessions the month before and she knew I was short on money. She had spoken to the people she works for and proposed an idea: bill for two months but not see me. Yes, that's illegal. I hated the idea from the start but didn't want to pay out of pocket either. I told her I'd think about it and let her know. The next week I canceled due to illness. The following two weeks she was out of town. When I went back to her I asked her about it and she said she'd already done it. So there wasn't much I could do about it. Since then I've been reluctant to go back. I like her, a lot, as a therapist. But if she would do something illegal what else would she do? What else is she doing to patients? Isn't she supposed to represent her practice, herself, and God as a counselor and a Pastor? Can I get in trouble for this?

She called me this week and said my bill is $900. I was like, WHAT? How can I have a $900 bill? My insurance has been paying everything for years!!! What the heck! I've NEVER gotten a monthly bill from her so how would I know what I owe her? My insurance just sent me a $150 check and says I owe her an extra $37 on top of that. So if I owe her $187 ($150 + $37) according to the insurance company where is she getting $900??? Does this seem greedy to anyone else?

So what do I do? How do I handle this? I feel like I can't trust anyone anymore. If I can't trust a professional counselor, who is a pastor (not to mention my pastor's wife) who can I trust? I'd appreciate some advice please. Thanks.
Posted on 10/11/08, 01:10 am