An Empathic Therapist, Please Help Rupert

[Never_falter2]

It's not "my situation". It is really just a character.

In the other thread a question arose: What if the "sufferer" presents himself as a spoiled little snowflake, because he is unable to admit he is hurting. So he really does have issues, he is deeply afraid of the a think but he just says he does not like it, it stresses him and so on.
How will the therapist find out the sufferer is really in need of help? I hope that this question is not offensive.

 

[joeylittle]

How will the therapist find out the sufferer is really in need of help? I hope that this question is not offensive.

Because the sufferer is there, in the appointment.

I think this is a little simpler than you are thinking of it as being. I don't know how this is different in a country with socialized health care, though. But even a person who is in denial about/ignorant of their core issues will know they have some problem that they are in therapy to work on.

If the therapy has been court-ordered, then the therapist knows from the outset that there might be some difficulty in getting the client to work on the issue.

If the client is really very clearly ignoring what the therapist believes the root issue to be, then it's the therapists' job to help get the client to a place of understanding.

If for some reason, the therapist does not believe they can help the client - it's their responsibility to refer them onwards.

If the therapist is still new-ish in the field and encountering some of these issues, they (ideally) are still under supervision, so they can talk with their supervisor about them. But it's a basic requirement for a therapist of any kind to have the capacity to work with many, many different kinds of issues that come into their office. And if they believe they cannot work with the client, then they need to help them get to someone who can work with them.

 

[Justmehere]

How will the therapist find out the sufferer is really in need of help?

Anyone who goes to therapy and claims they have no problems, that's usually a flag that the problems and pain are so huge they are using the defense mechanism of minimization...

If someone is there in therapy, there is a problem.

It is up to the client some degree too. Therapists have a lot of power but in many ways, it is the client who writes the story of what happens in therapy.

It's also easy, from the outside, to assume that someone who says they have no problems to think oh they must be fooling the therapist too. I tell friends I'm fine all the time, while in therapy, I'm crying through the whole session. And I don't share what happens in therapy with close loved ones. I just don't.