Thanks for the reminder that there is a mandate to STOP GOIING to THERAPY.
As a clinicaal psychologist and a depression sufferer, I can endorse the power of good therapy in altering and improving people's lives. (I wrote a piece on medium as I faced the impending retirement of my own therapist and it made me reflect even more on the therapeuticc relattionship .)
There seem to be several sources of complaint
1) Therapy didnt help or it hurt me. This could be due to having a badly trained caregiver. It could be due to basic flaws in a therapists's personality. Or, it could be a bad match between the two people.
2. The work has hit a tough spot. because painful material is brought up, and adds painful but necessary for progress. These are times for the therapist and patient to stay together and see the pain, the memories, the "transference " and "countertransference" through. A skilled therapist will know how to manage these situations.
Yes there will be people better suited to guiding patients through their suffering, and others who lose the thread., and the process is confounded
.The most responsible things are to aacknowlege that they have reached an impassde, and to deal with ways of understanding it. are transferring to another therapist, of to seek the consultation of a senior therapist in the cases of the therapy becoming stuck
3. It is critical of differentiate bad therapists, people who make errors (which is true of most of us,) vs
"nonnegotiable", serious flaws that demand changes in caregivers. from therapy being a bad thing
4 Bad therapists do not mean therapy is bad.
5.Therapy is hard. It saved my life. I felt humbled to be part of the healing prcess in mending peoples lives. We should not just dismiss the pain which patients feel toward toward the therapist and their treatment. If it is serious enough there are avenues for registering concerns about therapists.
5. Psychotherapy is the way that many, many people save their lives. Don't drop it from the arrray of "help" to relieve the suffering that can ease many aspects of persons life.
Thanks for your persuasive article. martha
