I'm a psychotherapist and I went for therapy for three years when I was training - I certainly did not feel much better after 10 sessions as I had quite severe, deep rooted issues and they had had a looooong time to take root (maybe like yours, don't know how old you are).
It's very important that you find yourself someone you like, whom you believe likes you, who is open with you about the therapy process. If you don't like them or they feel cold then get someone else.
Having therapy really shouldn't affect anything to do with social services, although I would be cautious about telling people - I can't believe how prejudiced people are about anything to do with getting support or mental health problems.
There is just so little understanding - I was really open about going for therapy and I had a couple of very 'sniffy' friends who thought that there must be something wrong with me for needing therapy even though it was a compulsory part of my course. Analysts go for 5 years commonly !
I wish you lots of luck and you've had some great advice on this thread.