Therapy should offer a supportive environment.

The Therapist should be viewed as a Guide assisting the Client.

 

Red Flags in Therapy:   These red flags were listed in a Good Therapy Blog  and my response follows them.

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1. Counselor does not have sufficient and specific training to address your issues and/or attempts to treat problems outside the scope of the practice.        I use referrals when appropriate.

2. Therapist is not interested in the changes you want to make and your goals for therapy.      It’s your dime and time.

3. Counselor cannot or does not clearly define how they can help you to solve whatever issue or concern has brought you to therapy.        This may take several sessions but should be discussed.

4. Therapist provides no explanation of how you will know when your therapy is complete. Treatment Goals and Objectives will be discussed to measure progress.    Sometimes therapy provides ongoing support or “Check-up” visits as needed to sustain maintenance and progress.

5. Counselor does not seek consultation with other therapists.       I always ask for your consent first.

6. Therapist makes guarantees and/or promises.      No crystal ball or magic wand.

7. Therapist has unresolved complaints filed with a licensing board.      None

8. Therapist does not provide you with information about your rights as a client, confidentiality, office policies, and fees so you can fairly consent to your treatment. Note: The requirement for information provided to new clients by therapists differs by state and licensure requirements.      HIPPA is outlined.

9. Counselor is judgmental or critical of your behavior, lifestyle, or problems.      Nope

10. Therapist “looks down” at you or treats you as inferior in subtle or not so subtle ways.     Nope.

11. Counselor blames your family, friends, or partner.

12. Counselor encourages you to blame your family, friends, or partner.     Blaming isn’t productive to change.

13. Therapist knowingly or unknowingly gets personal psychological needs met at the expense of focusing on you and your therapy.     Slippery slope, counseling should always be focused on client needs.

14. Counselor tries to be your friend.     Healthy boundaries must be used to retain objectivity and block judgement.

15. Therapist initiates touch (i.e., hugs) without consent.     Relationships need time to develop trust and showing compassion in a non-threating hug or light touch can be therapeutic when needed.

16. Counselor attempts to have a sexual or romantic relationship with you.      Counterproductive.

17. Therapist talks excessively about personal issues and/or self-discloses often without any therapeutic purpose.      I’m guilty of storytelling or using personal or other metaphors to make a point.  I try to protect others but believe my normalizing being a human or struggling with relationships helps the session progress.

18. Counselor tries to enlist your help with something not related to your therapy.     Will you rake my leaves?  Never.

19. Therapist discloses your identifying information without authorization or mandate.    HIPPA

20. Counselor tells you the identities of other clients.     HIPPA

21. Therapist discloses they have never done personal therapy work.     I continue to do my own work!

22. Counselor cannot accept feedback or admit mistakes.     Sharing my thoughts of how a moment or previous session could’ve been handled differently may add depth to the next session.     Role modeling accountability is positive.

23. Therapist focuses extensively on diagnosing without also helping you to change.    I mainly use DX for insurance purposes.

24. Counselor talks too much.  Guilty! 

25. Therapist does not talk at all.

26. Counselor often speaks in complex “psychobabble” that leaves you confused.    Nope, but I do love brain research and you may want me to cut that short sometimes.

27. Therapist focuses on thoughts and cognition at the exclusion of feelings and somatic experience.     I don’t use CPT solely.

28. Counselor focuses on feelings and somatic experience at the exclusion of thoughts, insight, and cognitive processing.     I integrate CBT as needed for change.

29. Therapist acts as if they have the answers or solutions to everything and spends time telling you how to best fix or change things.      Beware of the “Fixers”

30. Counselor tells you what to do, makes decisions for you, or gives frequent unsolicited advice.    That doesn’t sound like a Guide.

31. Therapist encourages your dependency by allowing you to get your emotional needs met from the therapist. Therapist “feeds you fish, rather than helping you to fish for yourself.     I try to avoid enabling.

32. Counselor tries to keep you in therapy against your will.     The door is visible J

33. Therapist believes that only the therapist’s counseling approach works and ridicules other approaches to therapy.      I’m open to many therapeutic orientations.

34. Therapist is contentious with you or frequently confrontational.     Not my style.

35. Counselor doesn’t remember your name and/or doesn’t remember your interactions from one session to the next.      As I age, I may trip on a name, but feel extremely remorseful about it.

36. Therapist does not pay attention or appear to be listening and understanding you.  Red Flag.

37. Counselor answers the phone during your session.      I usually have my phone on silent and hope you will do the same.

38. Therapist is not sensitive to your culture or religion.     I’m open to all religions and like to learn more about what the client has been successful with in their own life first. I enjoy weaving in cultural considerations into the problem solving component of our session.

39. Counselor denies or ignores the importance of your spirituality.      I’m embrace what works for you.

40. Therapist tries to push spirituality or religion on to you.      Not my style.

41. Counselor does not empathize.        This is one of my strengths, I believe, I’m very empathetic.

42. Therapist empathizes too much.       Perhaps, but I see the windows to challenge clients, as well.

43. Counselor seems overwhelmed with your problems.     I make referrals if I come to this fork in the road.

44. Therapist seems overly emotional, affected, or triggered by your feelings or issues.      I haven’t experienced this in a negative way.

45. Counselor pushes you into highly vulnerable feelings or memories against your wishes.     I’ve had years of trauma training and know enough to referral clients to a trauma specialist or handle guarded memories with great care and less force.

46. Therapist avoids exploring any of your emotional or vulnerable feelings.    I encourage raw expressions of how we all experience being human.  I like to normalize this for my clients.

47. Counselor does not ask your permission to use various psychotherapeutic techniques.     I don’t get too fancy, so no worries.

48. Therapist tries to get you to exert overt control over your impulses, compulsions, or addictions without helping you to appreciate and resolve the underlying causes.     I believe in Exposure Therapy but that is a slow, cautions process. Meaning behind actions is usually paramount.

49. Counselor prematurely and/or exclusively focuses on helping you to appreciate and resolve the underlying causes of an issue or compulsion when you would instead benefit more from learning coping skills to manage your impulses.     Solution Focus Therapy can be very helpful.

50. Your counselor habitually misses, cancels, or shows up late to appointments.     I have had situations in the past when my elderly parents of teenagers have needed me.    I try to cancel appointments at least 12 hours in advance and ask that my clients do the same.

 

http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/warning-signs-of-bad-therapy/