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Anyone else read a T's credentials and think it's exaggerated?

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Ice_Fire

MyPTSD Pro
I'm looking for a new T. I've been out of therapy for 6 years. Probably at least 2 of those years it's been long overdue. My old T isn't an option for various reasons so I'm looking for a new one. I've found a guy based in my city and I've sent an email off to him. He replied this morning and I read all his rules and his style and blah blah. Seems a good fit, he's a trauma specialist, a CPTSD one at that.

But, I'm a cynical old soul. He seems to have alphabet soup after his name and I'm kind of struggling to believe that most of it isn't mumbo jumbo nonsense. It all checks out but I'm struggling a little with the fact he seems to have specialised in trauma; fair enough. But he appears to have so much training, in all sorts of techniques and be members of so many different things that I'm wondering if he actually has any method at all?

Or is it really just that he is very well qualified post-grad and has done all this because he feels a one size fits nobody approach isn't the way to do it. Therefore he's done everything he reasonable can do in order to tailor the therapy experience? I dunno.

I know nobody here can answer that, but what I'm really asking is, would you be cynical too? or see it as a positive?
 
I am very cynical about every clinician that I encounter, because I have sifted through a lot of incompetence and harmful practice to get to where I am today. The only way you will know for sure if he is a good fit is if you speak to him directly and ask him specifically about his experiences with your actual trauma types. With actual patients who have similar traumas && who can maintain his emotional composure and counter-transference and focus on the healing process that you need (while respecting your boundaries).

In my province I've found that combination to be a tough order, && it took over a decade after my childhood deprogramming to find a "diamond in the rubble," so to speak. (My advice to anyone with severe trauma is to see if your therapist has experiences in prisons, forensic settings, or doing VSOP/VOTP work. They will be less likely to be "fazed" by you.)

Remember that your therapist is meant to work for you, and you do not need to acquiesce to them simply because they appear to have a position of authority over you. Authority does not equate respect, because respect is something that is earned through intentional actions, not merely installations of positional power. So you do retain some sense of agency: you can interview them, you can question their methods, you can prod a little at their ego to determine if they will lash back at you.
 
I know nobody here can answer that, but what I'm really asking is, would you be cynical too? or see it as a positive?
he seems to have specialised in trauma; fair enough. But he appears to have so much training, in all sorts of techniques and be members of so many different things that I'm wondering if he actually has any method at all?

I’m in the other boat, actually.

If someone has trauma certifications up the wazoo? I’d see that as focused, rather than diffuse.

There are hundreds of psych certifications.

Most true specialists? Will have a laundry list of both targeted and related certs (like someone who specializes in autism will not only have autism certs, but also eating disorder, gross & fine motor, asynchronotic development, and other trainings commonly found with autism… but that need treatments specific TO autism, and not caused by trauma, TBI, OCD, etc.)… and will drill down even harder into sub specialties (like autism + cancer, or autism + trauma, or autism + early childhood development or autism in the geriatric community, or, or, or).

It’s how I actually FIND trauma therapists, by searching for education clusters, rather than them simply saying they “treat trauma” (and usually every other disorder box ticked, because they don’t actually have any specialized training).
 
who doesn't exaggerate their credentials/resume/vitae curriculum? i'm only a tech guru, but i certainly do. i always assume other people do, also.
 
I didn’t even look at that. I did look at his materials section on his webpage because what he chose to share told me a lot about him. He also recommended I read The Body Keeps the score which was triggering all over it but told me he knew his stuff.

I completely agree that trusting someone is hard. I also know that there are people who can pass any test and get a credential that way but it certainly doesn’t make them an expert.

Really your looking for someone that when you meet you see yourself spilling your guts to.
 
I'm looking for a new T. I've been out of therapy for 6 years. Probably at least 2 of those years it's been long overdue. My old T isn't an option for various reasons so I'm looking for a new one. I've found a guy based in my city and I've sent an email off to him. He replied this morning and I read all his rules and his style and blah blah. Seems a good fit, he's a trauma specialist, a CPTSD one at that.

But, I'm a cynical old soul. He seems to have alphabet soup after his name and I'm kind of struggling to believe that most of it isn't mumbo jumbo nonsense. It all checks out but I'm struggling a little with the fact he seems to have specialised in trauma; fair enough. But he appears to have so much training, in all sorts of techniques and be members of so many different things that I'm wondering if he actually has any method at all?

Or is it really just that he is very well qualified post-grad and has done all this because he feels a one size fits nobody approach isn't the way to do it. Therefore he's done everything he reasonable can do in order to tailor the therapy experience? I dunno.

I know nobody here can answer that, but what I'm really asking is, would you be cynical too? or see it as a positive?
I would see him once or twice on a trial basis; see how you do with him.

It's hard to tell at this point.
 
If someone has trauma certifications up the wazoo
Hadn't thought of it like this. He does. And yes it is all trauma specialist but, exactly as you said, also autism, eating disorders and all sorts. But all seems to come back to trauma.

I'll fill his forms in and see how I get on with maybe meeting him.

I'm aware a good chunk of my cynicism is maybe due to underqualified therapists I've had in the past. In the UK it's not that regulated. And there's certainly no one clinically recognised board, there are many. So it all gets quite muddy.
 
If someone has trauma certifications up the wazoo? I’d see that as focused, rather than diffuse.
Yup. Like the difference between a GP and a specialist. In the same way you see a specialist for specific problems, a T that focuses on trauma therapy is where you go for help with trauma. If they do more than one treatment? Wouldn't you want the one that helps most? Or to try something different if you have a problem your therapy isn't fixing?

As for belonging to groups etc. Let me put it a different way. Where I used to work we had two service companies. With one - the techs all kept their experience to themselves, so when a guy who worked there 15 years walked in, he brought his 15 years experience with him. The other company - their techs collectively had 300+ years experience and shared it with each other so the guy walked in the door with 300+ years experience, and if he didn't have an answer he could find one.

Same for your T. I want the one who is looking to continue learning and learn from others experience as well as their own.
 
who doesn't exaggerate their credentials/resume/vitae curriculum?
A counselor who does this is committing a very serious ethical violation. Really, any therapist who puts letters after their name for which they haven't actually qualified could find themselves in very hot water, and could be (and should be) delicensed as a result.

So I'm pretty sure that guy really isn't misrepresenting himself.

The only issue with credentials and qualifications to me is that it IS a little weird to put more than three or four credentials after your name. It could be seen as an attempt to overawe any potential clients.
 
It could be seen as an attempt to overawe any potential clients.
I actually think this is where my cynicism comes from. I have always worked on the basis you put the highest qualification after your name and maybe a very significant additional one. It'd be like me putting BA, MA, FADip, member of the NAFD, BIE....like no mate that's overkill. All true but c'mon. It feels like bamboozling.

Anyway, I've contacted him, he's got back to me. With options for sessions. At the moment I'm still just kind of going along with it and doing it without freaking out. Mainly because I keep telling myself I'm not committing, I'm not *actually* seriously doing it. Until, maybe, I do. lol. Gotta trick that old noggin into doing things it half doesn't want to.
 
. Mainly because I keep telling myself I'm not committing, I'm not *actually* seriously doing it. Until, maybe, I do. lol. Gotta trick that old noggin into doing things it half doesn't want to.
OMG I totally relate to this. I am so in the trick my noggin category and that is how I approached going back to therapy after nearly 20 years. For me I always have an escape plan, I’m probably the only one who identifies the emergency exists before getting comfortable in a movie.
 
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