Therapists in need of therapy and their equally deranged clients - Psychobabble from both sides of the therapist’s couch

[Kelly's Leg Nerve]

Going to therapy is advised for almost any problem these days. Whether you were passed up for promotion, killed your favorite houseplant, or found yourself in possession of a silver CWC coin, therapy is right for you. 'Everyone can benefit from being in therapy all the time', the PsychologyToday blog said.

But how good is therapy? What kind of people are drawn to the therapist profession? What do clients have to say about their experiences? Just how bad are the bad therapists and the nightmare clients? Luckily, therapists and clients of the internet can provide us the answers.

This thread is meant to chronicle the remarkable postings of mental health professionals and their clients on the topic of therapy and mental health.

Finding a Psycho(therapist)

Reddit is full of mental health (MH) subs. /r/psychotherapy (for practitioners), /r/TalkTherapy (full of clients who love/hate their therapist), /r/therapy, /r/BPD, /r/AutisticTherapist, /r/Psychiatry, /r/AskPsychiatry, /r/psychoanalysis, /r/AskaTherapist, /r/Narcissism, and many more, though therapy stories are abound across the internet. For example, this random goodtherapy.org article about warning signs of bad therapists has >1,600 comments, many of which describe despicable behavior by a supposed licensed professional. Some youtube therapists have also gained a following and there is drama in that community (e.g., a big one was the Chris Boutté/Rewired Soul saga, and vultures are starting to circle around Todd Grande, see: I unsubscribed from Dr. Grande months ago, and now you get why). 'Therapists of Tiktok' is now a thing, too. Ig is brimming with therapist accounts with cringe cliches to weird art, risque pics, woo, etc. It's also fun to play Find a Therapist - wrong answers only - using the PsychologyToday profile search.

Case studies

First, the guy that inspired this post. I've posted this here before. Notice how commenters are actually supportive of his stunning and brave admission.

Spoiler: Troon therapist 'getting too close to female patients'

https://www.reddit.com/r/psychother...e_to_female_patients/?st=JQ4Y9629&sh=e91552b2

If you thought clients would be horrified by this guy, think again. The OP about him on /r/TalkTherapy is more critical and she very aptly describes the user base in the sentence under the link, which is why the comments are full of asspats for the perv, who shows up to collect:

r/TalkTherapy - Another interesting post at r/psychotherapy

18 votes and 134 comments so far on Reddit

www.reddit.com

The members of /r/psychotherapy have been so reckless with sharing personal information about themselves and their clients that someone made a twitter account to dox them. The account has since been banned.

Spoiler: Tweets part 1

Spoiler: Tweets part 2

Spoiler: /r/psychotherapy mod response

Reddit - Dive into anything

www.reddit.com

These people would be informants in North Korea

/r/psychotherapy users living up to the stereotype:

(yeah most votes probably came from the unverified spectators of the peanut gallery, but loads of verified posters talk about their diagnoses)

I don't want to demean people who seek help or take medication, but it seems that the motive to pursue a psych career is often rooted primarily in the desire to understand and help themselves. Research suggests and /r/psychotherapy mostly agrees that good therapists are born, not made, and I wonder how good these therapists are that went in with self-serving motives.

Speaking of which, Multiplicity&Me, the most respected creator in DID (faker) circles, who has a YT channel with 208K subscribers and recently 'integrated' the alters, stated recently that she is now a MH 'practitioner'. Want to be her client?

What would you think about having an autistic therapist, like these people:

Reddit - Dive into anything

www.reddit.com

or

Spoiler: "I was taught a lot of bullshit things about "professionalism" in graduate school."

r/AutisticTherapist - Professionalism Discussion

7 votes and 9 comments so far on Reddit

www.reddit.com

Discussions among MH pros can also be interesting and sometimes hilarious in non-horrifying ways:

This user is a mod of /r/Psychiatry and other medical subs (he eventually deleted this comment)

This thread could also accommodate the bullshit spread by (pop)psychology publications. For example, the website PsychCentral says that DID alters may need different prescriptions for glasses lmfao
link

Finally, this would be remiss if it didn't dedicate some space to the overly attached clients found in /r/TalkTherapy and elsewhere:

The sheer number of these posts is impressive. Just a selection:

Call to Action

The psychotherapy sub is going private soon, and they're instituting a verification process to gain access to the new sub. This private group on fb would be interesting to get into as well for anyone who is or can portray themselves as a licensed pro or advanced student. It would also be great if people could help dig through /r/psychotherapy before it goes private.

Spoiler: Why /r/psychotherapy is going private part 1

Spoiler: Going private part 2

Thanks for the tips @BootlegPopeye

 

[TheRetardKing]

Using the internet for therapy is like using Zoom for schoolwork.

 

[Product Placement]

You will want to look into Betterhelp as well

https://kiwifarms.st/threads/the-betterhelp-creatorhealth-influencelogic-rabbit-hole.48362/

still got youtubers shill it

 

[Kurgan]

Prostitutes > Therapists

Both are whores for cash in the end though

 

[R00T]

my field of work is connected to psych and when classes were still in person it was shocking to see how many of the psych majors were really just psychos. They believed they could read anybody and had everyone around them pegged down and completely understood. The reality was they were projecting and just learning about their own meshuggah so they could hide it better. It was really disgusting, and having that sort of mindset prevents you from being a good therapist in the first place. This seems like an interesting thread and I'm super excited to see where it goes op!

 

[GenociderSyo]

Had a troon in my psych classes who was a flat out psycho. Got kicked out for enjoying showing off his penis in the girls bathroom. Had some really interesting beleifs on the troonisms that one. He had been dishonorable discharged from the Marines before he came to the college the master's program was at, but never said why.

Found though that psych majors that went into the psychoanalysis were the most crazy.

@R00T Those are the types that will actually cause harm to their clients. Sadly this cancel culture crowd is leading to more and more of those types who also refuse to even beleive what they are taught so do their own thing on top of it.

 

[Kurgan]

my field of work is connected to psych and when classes were still in person it was shocking to see how many of the psych majors were really just psychos.

Can confirm.

My avatar is also a psych major and she takes so many antipsychotics, she no longer even has a sex drive anymore.

Due to her rampant mental health issues and large memory gaps, she failed the psychiatrist evaluation test, and had to work in the field of psychotherapy instead.

Found though that psych majors that went into the psychoanalysis were the most crazy.

Yeah see? This, right here.

Those are the types that will actually cause harm to their clients.

 

[NerdShamer]

He had been dishonorable discharged from the Marines before he came to the college the master's program was at, but never said why.

There's a bit of an line between doing something that gets you dishonorably discharged (which is an lot of things) to landing in federal prison. It might be related to him being a pervert to just being AWOL for too long.

And here's some self-hatred from, r/BPD. It's probably not what we're looking for, but I found it entertaining.

 

[Low IQ Doctor]

If you're going to see a shrink you go with a psychiatrist or an psychologist. Don't fuck around with any LCSW or other bullshit certs, they were too dumb to learn basic biology so they're gonna be too dumb to help you in any meaningful manner.

 

[GenociderSyo]

If you're going to see a shrink you go with a psychiatrist or an psychologist. Don't fuck around with any LCSW or other bullshit certs, they were too dumb to learn basic biology so they're gonna be too dumb to help you in any meaningful manner.

Problem is those with low income have no choice.

Most clinics ONLY hire MSW, LCSW and graduate interns. Even more frightening most partial care and IOP programs only hire LPCs.

 

[DontEatThat]

I was wondering when this topic would pop up here. Its an overlooked up fact but actual legit therapy can be beneficial to individuals struggling with whatever. However with recent events people are flocking online for therapy and Ive seen two groups of people increase. One are people who try to make their therapy sessions as their own hugbox and fill in as a surrogate relationship. Psych students and professionals who try to flex how they understand and run to online to gain a large following of the first group.

Patients can usually develop feelings for their therapist and it happens but the therapist needs to know whats going on and how to stop it. Same goes for the other way too. However flocking to these online communities or taking what online psych professionals as gospel because you feel invalidated is pretty dumb. If you really need some help go in person and actually make a fucking effort to work on yourself. Its like how a student fails cause he did not apply himself, an individual cannot better themselves through therapy but not doing anything except cry or get mad when youre told to fix yourself.

 

[GenociderSyo]

Online can never really substitute for in-person since you miss out on seeing body language, etc.

 

[Delilah Radio Show]

r/Psychotherapy is a goldmine of a subreddit, sad to see it's going private but this thread is a great jump-off point.

 

[Chongqing]

Great post.

I follow a well-known psychology podcast and I'm always blown away to see how soon-to-be clinicians are thinking about the world.

Recently, the professor of therapists received a question from a student who asked (in so many words) if it's okay to scold someone if they say something racist in a session. You know...what would you do if you were trying to help a schizophrenic with his trauma, and he suddenly says the N-word? Can we call them out?

The therapy professor said, "Oh, yeah! Absolutely!" When someone says something racist in therapy, you can stop them right there and tell them why their views and antiquated and wrong. Never mind that most people who blurt out racist stuff randomly are often mentally ill, and need the help of a therapist.

In the unlikely miracle that a sick person like this got in front of a professional (maybe court ordered therapy), the professional would just yell at them and tell them to fuck off, completely failing to recognize that their racial outbursts are a symptom of mental illness.

 

[R00T]

Patients can usually develop feelings for their therapist and it happens but the therapist needs to know whats going on and how to stop it. Same goes for the other way too.

one of the most important lessons is the conversation about the therapeutic relationship and when and where that line is drawn. In a physical setting it's very easy. You have your session and if there is a severe issue phone calls can be made and maybe an additional in-person visit can happen, but good therapists create interventions that are going to allow a patient to succeed without the therapist there as well. This becomes difficult in the virtual space due to that boundary never being completely set. We're always online, we're always available, and if you don't set strict boundaries some people will not understand that. Physical boundaries aren't as necessary as they are in the in-person space, but that social boundary needs to be further established.

Online can never really substitute for in-person since you miss out on seeing body language, etc.

The one benefit that online sessions have is that it allows you to interact and build some rapport prior to in person visits. Some patients might also just be extremely successful online, but that's something you have to find out.

 

[NerdShamer]

The one benefit that online sessions have is that it allows you to interact and build some rapport prior to in person visits. Some patients might also just be extremely successful online, but that's something you have to find out.

Plus, you don't have to worry about people like @henstepl trying to burn down your office.

 

[henstepl]

Scary men, if they have mental health concerns, should have the option to call police and be physically dragged to the 9-5 psychiatrist office.

Anything less than that, and the doctor will mobilize his tiny teddy bear women against him until he has to leave.

Anything more than that (aka the ward) and he will be charged $1000 for a referral to Spectracare, and they'll probably throw him out of the ward before the first night.

 

[Jarolleon]

Had a troon in my psych classes who was a flat out psycho. Got kicked out for enjoying showing off his penis in the girls bathroom. Had some really interesting beleifs on the troonisms that one. He had been dishonorable discharged from the Marines before he came to the college the master's program was at, but never said why.

Found though that psych majors that went into the psychoanalysis were the most crazy.

@R00T Those are the types that will actually cause harm to their clients. Sadly this cancel culture crowd is leading to more and more of those types who also refuse to even beleive what they are taught so do their own thing on top of it.

Isn't psychoanalysis the Phrenology of the 20th century? If so that would sure sift out anyone sensible, leaving behind pure crazy.

 

[GenociderSyo]

Isn't psychoanalysis the Phrenology of the 20th century? If so that would sure sift out anyone sensible, leaving behind pure crazy.

You would think, but its still taught in every intro course. And its still presented with Gestalt as a choice in your way to do therapy. There are organizations as well that will give you certifcates in pscyhoanalysis itself.

 

[Kendall Motor Oil]

You may find content from university "health services" social media or the therapists-who-work-there's social media.