Filing Complaint Against Therapist: Anyone Done It? What To Expect?

[Eti]

Are you thinking she breached her code of ethics because she lied to you?

Also, judgment, bad attitude, adversarial tone, etc.

She began to relish it when I'd talk about my hardships. She would draw a lot of attention to anything embarrassing with a high pitched tone of voice and a big smile on her face. It was like she wanted to make me feel bad about myself.

It was all horrible, and I don't know how I'd prove it to someone who wasn't there.

 

[Lamik]

I looked around for her letters -- can't find any.

She may well not be certified or have any governing body.

In my state all one had to do was pay a $30 licensing fee with the state until a few years ago to bill oneself as a "counselor". Same token, all one still has to do in order to be considered a "social worker" is take a 3 week course, at which point one can hold any of the govt social work related jobs (family court, free clinics, etc.). This is clearly miles away from the bachelors, masters, & 3,000 supervised clinical/counseling hours to be a licensed clinical master of social work (MSWlic / LCSW) which is what most people think of / mean when they say "social worker". Yup. 3 weeks versus 8+ years. :banghead:

While our state did away with $30 "counselor" license, there are still a number of states, particularly very religious ones, which have refused to.

 

[Rosivaj]

Sorry - but if you are looking to punish her, you're never going to get what you want.

The lesson I'm trying to teach her isn't, "You should be nice to your patients." It's "If you violate the therapist's code of ethics, there are going to be consequences."

You've got zero control over what her supervisor does. Thinking that you need to have her be punished is a big waste of time.

It doesn't sound to me like there's anything to really go on, here. You are imposing a script that may or may not have taken place (i.e. Her thoughts and motivations).

But, if you want to stand the best chance of censure, you'll contact her governing body and cc her supervisor and her.

You need to figure out her license in order to contact the governing body.

 

[Eti]

It doesn't sound to me like there's anything to really go on, here. You are imposing a script that may or may not have taken place (i.e. Her thoughts and motivations).

Yeah, I guess that's why there are so many good-for-nothing therapists getting by. Even if the patients they screw want to report them, it's incredibly hard to prove anything. The more I learn about this profession, the more I lose hope of ever finding anyone who can help me.

 

[Onani]

The more I learn about this profession, the more I lose hope of ever finding anyone who can help me

Seems to me it might could be the other way around.

1. it sounds like you had an untrained, unlicensed / not-certified counselor... Largely because you didn't know any better.

2. You stayed with them looooooong past when it became apparent that -at the very least- you two don't fit/work well together... Again, it sounds largely because you didn't know any better.

3. You now know that there are more than half a dozen training and cert levels, and several dozen modalities & schools of thought -as a baseline- and that your interpersonal working relationship is going to be very key. AKA You now know what to look for to find a therapist, and have a pretty good idea of some of the things you need from a therapist.

 

[Odivo]

Is this thread a follow up to the one discussing the therapist who you believed was avoiding talking about sex?

 

[Eti]

AKA You now know what to look for to find a therapist, and have a pretty good idea of some of the things you need from a therapist.

I should have clarified: I'm losing hope in finding someone who can help me and won't charge $150 per hour out-of-pocket or require a type of insurance I can't get.

 

[Erek]

And therein lies the difficulty - if you want someone who is qualified, licensed and regulated, it costs. Because somehow they need to pay for the 8 years of education it took to get there. It sounds like you took what was available to you in a counsellor and she wasn't what you needed. I would never see a therapist without knowing both what their qualifications are and where they studied because where I am, the place that they studied tells me a lot about how they will work.

Some very good therapists do pro bono work but generally places are limited - but it's always worth asking if they have a sliding scale fee or any pro bono places. There might also be charities that offer therapy for particular issues - often staffed by students or newly qualified therapists but I know some fantastic students, so you could find someone good.

And no, her supervisor isn't likely to censure her, that's just not how supervision in therapy works.

 

[Urub]

Is this thread a follow up to the one discussing the therapist who you believed was avoiding talking about sex?

...[/QUOTE]

Yes, it most certainly is, and people who are unfamiliar with that thread may indeed give not so good advice in this thread.

Being uncomfortable with talking about sex isn't a reportable offense.

I advise you OP to let it go.

 

[Eti]

Yes, it most certainly is, and people who are unfamiliar with that thread may indeed give not so good advice in this thread.

Being uncomfortable with talking about sex isn't a reportable offense.

I advise you OP to let it go.

I'll just start by saying it's massively inappropriate to go around "outing" people on the anonymous forum. I'm sure if the mods knew who you were, they would have grounds to take disciplinary action.

I said nothing about the therapist's adversarial attitude and nastiness in that other thread. That thread was about one facet of a complex relationship with a therapist -- this thread is about another facet. For all you know there could be all kinds of details you don't even know about. I share what I need to share to get some decent input. Jeez.

 

[Ufa]

I'll just start by saying it's massively inappropriate to go around "outing" people on the anonymous forum. I'm sure if th...

LOLOLOL.

I'm not outing anyone. The other thread was anonymous too. Nobody knows who this person is. Report me if you want. I didn't do anything wrong other than connect 2 anonymous stories.

 

[Ejal]

And technically you could have denied that it was the same person and it would have been the end of that. You confirmed that the threads are by the same person.