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There are "therapists" and then there are psychologists. The more severe the issues you want to sort out, the more professional the person you want helping you with it. Anyone can call themselves a therapist and yes, there are all kinds of social workers who mean well and can help some people with some things. Psychiatrist now = psychopharmacologist.
So I might not argue that 95% of therapists suck, but I doubt 95% of psychologists do. Even so, their job is not to solve your problems; it's to help you learn to do it.
Jeez, with all the bizarrely strong negativity, it's starting to feel like the Religion subforum here.
OP, I have had some OK experiences with therapy and a couple of EXCELLENT experiences. It is a very individual experience, though, and no one can tell you what you "should" be doing or feeling or how long it will take.
Sometimes just knowing WHY you're reacting to something in a certain way can help you deal with it going forward. But I'm glad to hear that you are starting and encourage you to keep an open mind.
Nope. 95% of therapists suck. Very clueless people in it for the wrong reason.
While this sounds hyperbolic, it's not without merit. The therapists I've dealt with just did two things: (1) question me about my feelings, and then not believe my answers, and (2) parrot back everything like Captain Obvious, with no elaboration. I found that to be highly inane and simplistic, which got me thinking the therapist was a blithering idiot. Heck, I could have talked to myself and done the same things, and saved my parents the bills. (But wait! Talking to myself makes me insane, which means I need treatment, where the therapist would... never mind!) Mind you, I was 9 years old. The therapy tactics I got felt similar to the girl who goes into the basement when there's a killer in the house.
Perhaps adult therapists are better than pediatric therapists, but I'm not holding my breath for that.
Thanks, I was hoping you'd chime in. Are they mostly grad students, or do they also have professionals that students could request? I know campus crisis centers have experienced professionals, but the regular center, for long-term counseling, needs those, too.
Ours has a full staff in addition to grad students on clinical rotation.
Counseling therapy has licensure and accreditation standards and a code of ethics upheld by an ethics board responsible for oversight, investigations and sanctioning. They are subject to background checks from the initial stages of schooling on. They are also required to maintain training in current practices via continuing education minimums.
You may be confusing this with "life coaches," who are not legally required to have any particular training or credentials, have no professional oversight, have no requirement to pass criminal background checks, and are not required to consistently train to maintain accreditation. But, no, you can't legally present yourself as a therapist if you are not legally credentialed as such.
Counseling therapy has licensure and accreditation standards and a code of ethics upheld by an ethics board responsible for oversight, investigations and sanctioning. They are subject to background checks from the initial stages of schooling on. They are also required to maintain training in current practices via continuing education minimums.
You may be confusing this with "life coaches," who are not legally required to have any particular training or credentials, have no professional oversight, have no requirement to pass criminal background checks, and are not required to consistently train to maintain accreditation. But, no, you can't legally present yourself as a therapist if you are not legally credentialed as such.
Nope, there are job listings for unlicensed therapy positions in some very surprising venues. I know there are lots of qualifications you CAN get, but as long as you say you're unlicensed, there's nothing stopping you practicing "therapy" if you can find someone to give you money for it. It's how people end up with the idea that therapy is crap and of no help, and the reason I said to ask for a real professional rather than taking what you get, like some student or volunteer.
My therapist were as good as the efforts I put in to listening. Elaborating or simply stopping a poor behavior once I came to the conclusions.
You fix yourself. They won't do it for you. I had to take the ugly truths and cope with it...They simply encouraged "alternative" actions to regroup some unhealthy mindsets.
Best therapist I had ..Took the bull outta my chit and had me deal with it...When I was ready. Too often the client isn't really wanting to change and have the ugly reality of themselves or incidences...For that..No therapist is going to do.
My therapist were as good as the efforts I put in to listening. Elaborating or simply stopping a poor behavior once I came to the conclusions.
You fix yourself. They won't do it for you. I had to take the ugly truths and cope with it...They simply encouraged "alternative" actions to regroup some unhealthy mindsets.
If the patient has to fix themselves on their own, and the therapist "isn't supposed to do it", despite the session costs of $100+ her hour, then what's the point of therapy? Isn't there another, most cost-effective way to do it? Like some online forum, where like-minded people read and post comments, to facilitate information exchange? Doesn't even need to be a professional psychology site, which would only raise the costs. It could even be a site dedicated to land, houses, and all that jazz, whose owners decided to put in a forum for people to talk.
Last edited by MillennialUrbanist; 03-08-2017 at 05:41 AM..
My therapist were as good as the efforts I put in to listening. Elaborating or simply stopping a poor behavior once I came to the conclusions.
You fix yourself. They won't do it for you. I had to take the ugly truths and cope with it...They simply encouraged "alternative" actions to regroup some unhealthy mindsets.
Best therapist I had ..Took the bull outta my chit and had me deal with it...When I was ready. Too often the client isn't really wanting to change and have the ugly reality of themselves or incidences...For that..No therapist is going to do.
I'll do a "worst therapist" story. left a bad relationship 100 yrs ago. Ex found the therapist & actually with met her on numerous occasions and she decided to discuss everything I ever said with him.
Ya so ummmm, it was the last therapist I ever had.
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