Looking for low-cost therapist to help navigate breast cancer

Not sure where you are located geographically--and I'd only know specifics for my city, but have some general ideas. A cancer center should have free groups for breast cancer patients led by a qualified social worker. Most oncologists should be able to refer. Some are in person and some on zoom. A nurse navigator or hospital social worker should have some resources for referral. Have you tried these avenues at all? Community medical centers have low cost therapy--at least the one here does. As to insurance, can you call them and find out what practitioners accept your insurance? Sometimes insurers have different kinds of support. Do you have a sense of what might work in your situation?

I agree with this. The minute you step out of the hospital/cancer center network, it gets risky. You really need someone who understands the experience professionally, without personally having had the experience. When I finished treatment 5 years ago, I reached out to a therapist who I thought would work. Turns out she was a triple positive bc survivor, and we ended up talking about her cancer in the sessions. Last year I was diagnosed and treated for a gyn cancer. Once again after surgery was done, I reached out to another therapist who I started seeing. Unfortunately she has been diagnosed with bc but is pretending it's not happening, therefore I never feel comfortable talking about cancer; continuing in this would necessitate denying a key part of my history. Neither approach was helpful to me. In person support groups are also tremendously helpful. It's a lot to take in at first. It is wise to seek help navigating everything. Social workers/therapists on site can be extremely helpful. I found this to be the case even in my little "cottage hospital" near home. I wish everyone the very best in all ways.

Hi
My local hospital the one that diagnosed my breast cancer got me a counselor thru the social work dept. He was fantastic. We did all my sessions via phone. Unfortunately when treatment ended so did he. I now am struggling to find a good one. Had an appointment yesterday with a reasonable cost. Was not good she was very young, no life experience and kept reading from a binder. I am back to square one.

I understand your frustration. Yes, the need for guidance does not end with treatment. If anything, the need increases once we are "on our own"

I live in Naples, FL currently and there is no major hospital here. All of my doctors were in separate offices. I had 7 different portals and went to appointments with all of my tests and other paperwork in a pink three ring binder just so I could keep them all on the same page. I was offered no support groups or therapy during or after my journey. I was given Xanax for anxiety. I felt like I was on my own. It was an extremely lonely and stressful experience. I was grateful to find this group. This has really helped me over the past couple of months. I feel less alone and less crazy. I have good and bad days. We sold our home in Naples, which I'm very grateful for, but it is still a lot to deal with and I find my fuse is short. Packing, finding a place to live, new job...I'm hoping once I land in our new place, things will stabilize.

I already posted, but did just talk to a dear friend who is a social worker who has had breast cancer twice. She agreed that oncology should refer to therapy within the system if possible but had another useful idea: try calling the state chapter of NASW (National Association of Social Workers) in your state to ask about free or low cost therapists.
I didn't know about this myself, but am passing the tip on!

meeshodge,
I understand that Cancerlifeline.org has free counseling. livingbeyondcancer.org also has a helpline. I do not know about Mayo but they may have reduce counseling.
I like Mayo connect and the breast cancer support group and use them regularly.
We often have times in our lives when we need extra support. Mine came many years ago and what I learned from a fabulous counselor has helped me all through my life. I wish yu the same

I did therapy through a residency program so it was very cheap per session and worked with a great student therapist.

My husband also saw a different therapist, and we also did City of Hope's free monthly online Couples Dealing with Cancer Support Group which was so wonderful.

We didn't do treatment through City of Hope at all, but they let us join, as it was the only couples group I had found pretty much in the nation (I went through a five treatment during the pandemic).

@meeshodge, I hope you saw the helpful replies from fellow breast cancer members. I agree with the others that a good place to start is to inquire about social work services at your cancer center. Oncology social work might not be suggested unless you ask. Learn more about the help they can offer in this article:
- How an Oncology Social Worker Can Help https://connect.mayoclinic.org/blog/cancer-education-center/newsfeed-post/how-an-oncology-social-worker-can-help/

Another option may be to ask about patient navigators or spiritual/chaplain services in the oncology department.

@meeshodge - I saw on a different thread reference to ABCD (after breast cancer diagnosis) where mentees are matched with mentors. It may not be a licensed therapist - but this appears to be a no-charge organization that matches people together that understand the BC journey. The mentors also appear to be given some training before they are assigned mentees. It might be worth looking into if resources are such that you don't have facilities in your area. Check them out. I've just started researching their posted information and I'm 1 year NED and there are still times when I wish I had someone to talk to that understood the journey.