This got way longer than I expected, so let me start with the TL;DR: If you have gotten counseling that has helped with your WLS success, can you please give me some tips for how to find a good therapist? And what I should be discussing with that therapist? I'm looking at you, @Creekimp13 and @catwoman7 (since you've both mentioned the importance of therapy in your long-term success), but I would love to hear from anyone who has gotten this kind of counseling...
I called another practice and explained that I'm a WLS patient looking for counseling on food and eating issues, and they assured me they could help, but the therapist they assigned to me knew nothing about WLS. I had a few sessions with him and it was useless. I had to keep explaining basics about WLS (like food restrictions, dumping syndrome, not eating and drinking at the same time, loose skin -- which he thought would go away on its own if I exercise enough and when I explained that the only way to get rid of it is plastic surgery, he suggested I ask my bariatric surgeon to do it at my next follow-up).
He didn't seem to understand my issues at all. In hindsight, I probably should have walked out of the first session. When I started telling him my WLS story and mentioned that my highest weight was 341 pounds, he interrupted me: "Sue?" I stopped and said, "Yes?" He replied, with a big smile on his face, "Sue, you were FAT!" and then busted out laughing, like it was cool to make fun of how fat I used to be just because I'm not that big anymore. When I told him I wanted to get counseling to address my food and eating issues to make sure I don't gain the weight back, he replied, "You won't gain the weight back. If I had a $100 bill right now, I would bet $100 that you won't gain the weight back," and then we never discussed regain again in the next 3 sessions. I think he was under the impression that regain was an irrational fear and he did his job by reassuring me that it's not going to happen.
Then I found another practice that has a whole paragraph on its web site about the support they offer for bariatric patients both before and after surgery. I called to make an appointment and said that I had bariatric surgery last year and I was interested in the post-surgery counseling they described on their web site. The receptionist told me she needed my surgeon's office notes from my most recent visit, and was oddly insistent that the notes come directly from the surgeon's office and not from me downloading them from my electronic chart and sending them. I had to sign release paperwork for the surgeon's office, and when the counseling practice got it, they called me and said they were confused because my surgeon's notes said I already had the surgery so there was no need for me to get a pre-surgery evaluation. I guess they thought I was asking for a psych eval for surgery approval and couldn't understand why I would need counseling after I already had the surgery.
I cited the paragraph on their web site and they sent me to a seemingly random therapist (probably the first one with an opening) who had no experience with WLS patients. She's better than the last guy, but the sessions have been pretty generic -- basically, she asks me how my week has been, I talk about things that happen (usually relating to WLS issues), and she asks me how I feel about it or how I handled it. Doesn't feel like I'm getting anywhere -- just feels like a WLS patient Q&A. I told her this and she suggested I think about what exactly I want to discuss and tell her next week. I'll give that a try, but to be honest, I don't really know -- she's the therapist, so I was counting on her to provide that kind of guidance!
