disequilibrium1

It seems an East Coast variation of singer Brian Wilson’s experience.

Here's a new podcast around a New York psychiatrist who engaged in major financial and emotional exploitation of his client for 29 years. https://www.bloomberg.com/features/the-shrink-next-door/ Though my abuse was nowhere near this extreme, I can recognize the dangers now in surrendering to "the expert."

394cameron, welcome. I think many or all of here find it challenging to sort our own conclusions from therapists what told us. I found it a revelation that an "authority figure" doesn't always know best, and the therapist wasn't an authority at anything at all. I never would have guess you weren't an English speaker--your English is that proficient. Americans who are fluent in even a second language are in the minority. But please for clarification if something doesn't make sense. My typographical errors don't ease the situation.

Self esteem is a big item at the mental health industry store. I’ve never seen iexplored thoughtfully the difference between quiet assuredness and superficial grandiosity and bluster. I think the former has is earned, not installed by hired stroking and flattery.

Another new link. Oh tosh. https://www.theguardian.com/education/2001/dec/28/research.highereducation

What is a mental health pioneer after all but a good publicist and showman. They use clients as guinea pigs, then hurry scurry to prove their modality’s efficacy.

Among additions to the Monster list, an article about ethical lapses of several of therapy's iconic figures. It's interesting how some therapists compartmentalize this as the admired person's "shadow side." http://openknowledge.nau.edu/2346/7/Thomason_T_2016_The_Shadow_Side_of_the_Great_Psychotherapists(1).pdf

A horrifying example of a therapist playing God. The folly is the number of people who believe humans can be oracles.

Thistle, welcome. I expect you'll find it much easier to talk about harmful therapy here than Psych Central. As I talked about there as Missbella, to look at the worst of my therapy, I had to take all my therapists off their pedestals and unravel some basic assumptions I had about them and therapy and general. It's been tough, but likely a more useful journey to me than my taking everything in therapy at face value.

Echo, welcome. In my efforts to erase as much therapy-think as possible, I want to erase the concept of broken. Life certainly has left me overwhelmed many times. I've gotten many tough breaks beyond my control and likely much punishment that's self-inflicted. Yet I try not to view spirit or emotions in the same channel as say, a broken bone. I weary of words that leave me feeling that I need some external authority to fix me again.

Mary, I deliberately scouted for your links, but couldn’t find all. Feel free to add suggestions. Lilienfeld seems about the most effective fraud buster around, but I wish he went further.

Eve and I recently collaborated to compile eight year's worth of links from my wordpress blog. I also added more from here and elsewhere. This is a fluid list, which I can continue to add to or subtract from as needed. A thousand thanks to Eve for getting this started. https://disequilibrium1.wordpress.com/links-and-resources/

Sorry I missed your post. Welcome. I find it an interesting exploration here. Whether in therapy or out, I think it important to view the experiences with my prerogative and judgment rather than accepting the assertions (or salesmanship) of therapists.

Most all psych literature I see seems written in delusional omnipotence— the practitioner is absolutely certain of causation and consequence. The therapist knows whatever visits his brain must be true. The mental health field seems built on a foundation of whim and impulse masquerading as science and fact. Unfortunately they lure the their clients into their fact-free culture, lowering the standards for evaluating truth vs. fable.

They certainly fail to inform clients how infantilizing, enfeebling, pathologizing or self-absorbing therapy can be. Nor do they explain the advantages of this. I wonder if they know this themselves.

They skim the subject of harm without bothering to define all but the most egregious examples.

Ethics discussions I've read seem concerned with defending against lawsuits rather than avoiding harming clients.

My co-therapists went freaking berserk, destructive and manipulative as I tried to terminate group therapy. When I filed a complaint years later, I saw one of the therapists learned nothing in the interim. I get annoyed with those shaming articles about the correct protocol for terminating therapist. I wouldn't advise anyone to face an wounded therapist. Most of those "advice" articles fails to comprehend the poisonous relationships and power struggles.