Worst Therapist Story

[Dana1010]

I think I once read someone on this forum say they've seen 40 therapists over the years, and they could count on one hand how many were helpful. At the time I thought they were exaggerating, but having just left a therapist who flat out couldn't do her job, I'm starting to believe it.

What's your worst experience with a therapist? Has your success rate been dismal as well? Would you say a lot of them are hacks or money grubbers?

 

[anthony]

Ironic... I was thinking about things that the occasional psychology student comments upon here, with all their experience and such :rolleyes:... often wrong to the very texts content they're supposed to be reading. I don't know what psychologists are taught any more, but they really need to toughen up the testing for who becomes qualified to apply therapy to actual people, especially trauma therapy. It's as though they're producing counsellors instead of psychologists, which are useless for trauma treatment.

 

[Ronin]

My worst experience with therapists is unpublishable in a forum format.
Or, technically yes, but I prefer to not go into it, if I can snark snippets of it, the better.

So yeah, hear your pain, Dana.

 

[rascal]

My psychiatrist used alcohol, psychotropic drugs and various forms of guilt and manipulation to try and fulfill his homoerotic perversions while I was his patient. As a child abuse survivor, this treatment sent me into a tailspin and I almost died. Thankfully, he's currently being monitored by the Medical Board.

I'd rank that as my worst.

 

[Rumors]

It's funny bc I have a relative that graduated last year as a social worker. She works for a company that works with kids or something and she is always talking about how great her numbers are as it pertains to kids staying sober I guess. It seems like there is some falicy in how important her numbers are and I always want to say "you graduated a year ago and have had this job 8 months...you haven't done it long enough to really know what the long term outcome is for these kids so quit bragging about how awesome your numbers are..." Is that shitty of me? I want to smack her bc her husband goes around telling everyone that she is the best councilor in town (I live in a larger town where there are a lot of accomplished therapists) and the only thing that goes through my head is "shit I feel sorry for the people she sees bc her ego is too big to just help people...it has to be about numbers" I feel like somewhere down the road someone is going to say that she was a nightmare. I don't understand why people have to interject their own agendas in to everything.

 

[Sideways]

I had a particular T that nearly sent me completely mad, and the fallout - stuff happened that was traumatic:confused: Nasty enough that I can't go further.

But I can see that in retrospect, his approach wasn't helpful to me, but was the kind of approach that I know has worked for others, so I was just unlucky there, no one could've predicted the outcome for my case.

Thing is, I've crossed paths with a lot of T's, and you don't need to get too far in to treatment before the average T is out of their league with this stuff. I tend to not hold that against them. Take what they've got to offer and go look for someone more within the trauma niche.

To anyone reading this looking for a T for the first time, or looking for a T because it's not working out with your current T, stick with it. Even the ones who are out of their league can usually at least kick you off with the basics in stuff like cbt, grounding, mindfulness & self-soothing. That stuff becomes really critical really quick, and even the really crappy T's can usually steer you through that stuff:)

 

[Dana1010]

It's as though they're producing counsellors instead of psychologists, which are useless for trauma treatment.

I think I read something a while back about the head of the APA really wanting to hold therapists to actual standards of treatment. He said that the subjective, "relationship based" model, while not without merit, just does not deliver RESULTS reliably. He wanted to make sure best practices are being followed and progress made on a measurable basis. The way things are currently, I think a lot of "therapists" are sliding by doing practically nothing.

I think the curriculum in schools is very broad and touch-and-go. I go on Psychology Today's listings and see a therapist two years out of school claiming to have expertise in, um, 20 different disorders, and think, "Sure."

With every therapist I've seen so far, I've felt like I knew more about PTSD from reading this forum than they knew from years of formal training and practice. So I think it's basically specialist or bust. If you don't land a specialist, you're getting a know-nothing dilettante. Might not be so bad if they'd at least let you talk about what's bothering you, but I can't even get that.

 

[Zanshin]

I haven't seen a lot of them - books seem to help me more.

One moved across the country without warning - that was the one who diagnosed me. Other than the move, I remember her as being good.
The next replied, "Yes, that's how most victims feel" to everything I said... No other responses. Not overly helpful or making me want to see another one, ever.

 

[EveHarrington]

Many mediocre therapists. A few generalist type therapists I absolutely loved. Most were just out of their league and unqualified for my issues. I'd say the worst was just in getting unprofessionally dumped but I guess even that isn't all that bad in retrospect. Higher qualifications would be nice. A social worker (in general) is out of their league with trauma issues-----not all, but most IME.

 

[WillyKat]

The very first therapist I ever saw was by far the worst. After months of fear about seeing one, I finally got the courage to go to the student counseling center and tell them I needed help. They sent me to a psychiatrist on campus, which means he was a professor.

So I go in and sit down in an armchair. Across the room, he sits in his desk. He asks me, "what do you want?"
Me: Told him I had been sexually abused by my neighbor at age six and am having a lot of problems.
Him: But what do you want?
Me: I want to find a way to deal with this better, to have a better life.
Him: Yes, but what do you want?
Me (irritated): I want to feel better.
Him: Yes, well I see you're getting a little hot under the collar, but I really just want to know what you want?

This went on for maybe twenty minutes, finally, he asked his one question one too many times so I grabbed my satchel and left. He may have said something but I didn't listen. His receptionist rose from her desk, extended her arm as if to have me wait and asked if I wanted to reschedule. "Reschedule?"

Guy was a quack. I felt really depressed, ready to give up, suicidal. I walked past the building where I had several classes, and thought of going up to the 8th floor balcony and jumping off. But I was also angry, and I think that stopped me.

A day or two later I went back to the counseling center and gave them a piece of my mind: "there's no way this quack could ever be of any use to anyone that needs counseling. What were you thinking? He's incompetent. Don't ever send anyone to this asshole again." They apologized profusely and sent me to another therapist.

 

[Whyteferret]

It's funny bc I have a relative that graduated last year as a social worker. She works for a company tha...

@Rumors
Some jobs push numbers. She's young and excited and green. If she's going to be good, she'll get that knocked out of her soon enough and realize she has a lot to learn. The MSW doesn't give you knowledge really. Just theory. Knowledge comes with experience.

 

[Whyteferret]

My last therapist was the worst. I had just gotten to the point where I was stable in regards to anxiety. At that point, she made the suggestion I find another job and go back to work. Needless to say, I was no longer stable in regards to anxiety. Don't get me wrong, I want to go back to work at some point but right now, I can't work in my career.

I stopped therapy two months, got to the point I was suicidal and on line to crisis almost daily.
I finally went to the Vet Center. He knows what he's doing. Knows PTSD and familiar with brain injury. Start small. Work towards something bigger.