Better Therapy?

Why am I so adamant on speaking up about therapy harm/therapy abuse? Because I have had a lot of shitty therapy experiences, and I have sat with a lot of other people who also have had a lot of shitty therapy experiences.

Then I read a lot of literature and studies on therapy, I have gone to different therapy schools etc. and met a lot of resistance to the idea that therapy can be harmful/abusive.

And I have also come to the conclusion that there is something fundamentally wrong with the basis of therapy, not a specific modality, but all of them. All therapy sticks to some common rules that no one is questioning. And I just have to explore this, as to me it looks like some grave systemic failure and a strong resistance to asking one’s own field and colleagues some utterly hard, but necessary questions.

Do I have all the right answers? Of course not, that would be utterly preposterous of me to think. But I have some ideas, and I do believe ecopsychology can be a great place to start, while we redo therapy, but ecopsychology will not suffice on its own, there needs to be intersectional explorations and adaptions to all kinds of situations.

I am also trained in peer support (and have been employed in that role), and what astonish me, having training in both therapy and peer support, is that I have seen some great therapy done, called peer support work… and some of the best relational ideas, I have found in peer support theories. And some of the worst therapeutic and relational ideas I have found in therapy literature, historic and contemporary.

So yes, I am experimenting. Totally openly. Transparently. If you sign up as a “client” (I need to find a better word for the person seeking support) with me, you can ask me anything abut me, how I think, what I do, what I believe (in), etc. I have no intention of using anyone for my experimenting.

What will you get if you want to try out support with me? You will get a mix of ecotherapy, rewilding therapy and what I call peer therapy + some trauma sensitive mindfulness developed by me, expressive arts ideas, movement ideas, experiential learning, the ground from the PTMF framework (Power Threat Meaning Framework) some feminism, critical thinking ideas, and some other stuff.

Mostly you will get a human, ready to listen and support you to find out what you want to do with/in your life. And who is happy to explore that with you. No matter where you are at right now.

It is not easy to be a human, and therefore not easy to support humans. But I am blown away by the willingness by most therapists to hide behind their therapist role, as if they were therapists firstly and humans secondly. And as if pretending away their humanness would turn what they do into “clinical treatment”.

You will not get any pathologizing from me, and no objectifying. I am not using empathy or any other thing/approach as a tool. I don’t instrumentalize myself or any other being/entity.

And I will for sure be super scary to many. And I am called dangerous, espcially for not following established therapy practices. And for not having followed the practice of only studying one therapy modality until I am licensed. I am not sure those practices are worth much, the most harmful therapist I have met and seen in action, are those most trained, most qualified, highly licensed, those that talk a lot about ethics and morals, and their own insights, basically putting themselves on a pedestal.

So, I usually say I am a good therapist for the brave ones, or for those who have tried the conventional therapists and either did not get anything out of that or was harmed by that experience.

Will I/can what I do be harmful to someone? Yes. Of course. EVERY therapist can be harmful. Which is why I am trying to be as transparent as I can come up with being. My problem is that many seeking therapy are so drilled in what therapy should look like, that they feel harmed if I am deviating from that norm. So, if you have very particular ideas about what therapy is/should be, what trauma sensitive means, etc., I am most probably not a good choice for you.

And this must be a really stupid marketing text about me as a therapist; I seem to want to scare away “clients” and anger other “therapists”. But here we are. At least I am honest.

You will see more of these anti-marketing texts from me. And more texts about therapy harm/therapy abuse, iatrogenic harm from psychiatry, and texts about ecotherapy, etc. I will continue to explore what I see as basic flaws with therapy and what can be done about it and offered instead.

Ta-da! I am here, for the brave ones, or the utterly therapy delusional ones who want to give it one more go.

Pictures: Last night from my last round with Teo the Dog. This is moonshine, not sunshine. I thought it was stunning and we stood there for a while, I admiring the moon, and Teo deep with his nose into something (probably a fox trail). This morning we were studying the geese that are traveling south now. So sure of their direction. Traveling together. Grouping and re-grouping.

Anyone up for an ecotherapy group online? I love group work and it keeps the cost down for the participants.