Is Your Therapist to Be Trusted?

I was just starting out with the book 'Crazy' Therapies this morning and it really made me think about how being a therapist puts you into a position of power. Your therapist could do your immense good, an agent for alleviating and even curing anything that ails you mentally. On the other hand, harm could easily be done with just a simple word.

Stories abound with such abuse. Take, for example, one case in the book: "Glenda" who went to hypnotherapist (a therapist who specializes in hypnosis) to cure her joint pains but got more than she asked for. What happened was, through multiple trance sessions, the therapist made her believe that her problems were caused by "children" or "alters" living inside her body. Each session, the therapist brought out another alter insider her body so that they could deal with it. Needless to say, a simple nuisance became a major multiple-personality disorder.

One might wonder about the motives behind such an outrageous act; did the therapist really think he's doing a great service to Glenda by convincing her of such a paranormal interpretation? And what's more important, could there be something one could so that this won't happen again?

To date, there are around 450-plus kinds of therapies out there, ranging from the theory-bound modalities such as psychoanalysis and cognitive-behavioral therapy to exponential offshoots that include fight therapies. Remember Fight Club? Though it's only a fictional account of a possible solution for the primal urges of men, it holds a certain allure to the masses: just keep doing this and you'll feel well. Which is, I think, is the standard thinking about cures in general, psychological cases included.

This could explain why there's a cacophony of therapies in the market: If we think about it, therapy just needs an expert who could guide the client to a cure for his ailments, and an amount of confidence (or some might say, faith) of that client in the capacity of that same expert to offer relief. In a sense, we really entrust our therapists with our lives. This now behooves anyone in the mental health field to become more careful about their practice. As Peter Parker's uncle had said, with great power comes great responsibility. But what if there really exists a capacity for abuse, how do we tell?

One thing that we should know is that true therapy empowers people. Legitimate therapies are designed to let go of the client, to slowly make him realize that he has the capacity and the potential to better himself. Unlike what happened to Glenda, therapists should educate their clients and make them realize that they are capable individuals that could rise up from their problems. Beware of therapists who tries to convince you otherwise.

Therapy shouldn't be a replacement for real life. There's such a thing as being too dependent on therapy that almost all time is spent under it. Aside from it being a potential financial sinkhole, the quality of life could deteriorate. It would be ironic that a cure could become the further cause of one's problems, but it really happens. Though there are instances - at least with severe mental disorders - that would require an in-depth approach, not all therapies should be made out this way.

A single-minded approach for a cure is always a red flag. A therapist who insists on only one explanation and one interpretation of one's ailments is not someone to be trusted. This means that a therapist shouldn't force any kind of idea or belief system as the sole reason for one's problems. Legitimate therapy should fit itself to the needs of the client.

What makes for good therapy? All in all, it's just summed up into one core idea: all for the benefit of the client. Whether it is to be near, to go far, to educate, to facilitate or direct, the timing of any intervention should be just right where it would create the largest positive impact. The paradigms might differ and the methods could vary but all should always put the client's needs first.

Notes

1. The case example I used for this article was lifted from the book Crazy Therapies by Margaret Thaler Singer and Janja Lalich. I haven't finished it but I urge you to get a copy - it's a great read!