Therapists’ blogs Part I: Psychotherapy.net

[Mary S]

More and more therapists seem to be blogging. Their blogs can give some insight into their view of therapy. Although some blog individually, some blog via therapist-oriented websites. I’ll comment on three of these, but put them in three different “topics,” in the hope that this will make any discussion flow more easily.

One of these sites is https://www.psychotherapy.net/blog. 

[Mary S]

(I've been having trouble creating this post. What is there is just the beginning, so I'll try to continue here.)

I’ve only looked at a few of the blog entries there, but they do not give me a positive view of therapists.

One concern is that the site doesn’t seem to allow comments: no discussion, just one therapist’s view in each blog.

Another is that many of the posts (e.g., https://www.psychotherapy.net/blog/title/the-multiple-languages-of-therapy ) seem to talk about a particular client. That seems to be a violation of the client’s privacy (even if the name is changed, since so many particulars are often given).

I found one post there ( https://www.psychotherapy.net/blog/title/the-socially-awkward-therapist, by Margaret Arnd-Caddigan) to be particularly disturbing. The author seems to include herself in a “socially-awkward-therapist” category, saying,

            “We’re not simply noticing, but carefully weighing, evaluating, and interpreting facial expression, tone of voice, body language, rhythm, inflection, and word choice, all in minute detail.
            We’re not diagnosing. We’re not pathologizing. We’re not judging. We are quite simply fascinated.”

I seriously question her assertion of not judging – it looks to me like she is judging clients (and perhaps not just clients) to be objects subservient to the pursuit of her fascination. Perhaps some people like being the object of someone’s fascination. I don’t, and it would especially turn me off in a therapist. It’s an example of what I call a therapist agenda. I would really feel used if she were my therapist.

Still, sites like this can be one resource for a prospective client to “research” perspectives of different therapists, and perhaps to research what a particular therapist is like before trying them.

 

[Mary S]

I'll try to continue tomorrow with Parts II and III, each discussing a different blog site.