Therapy Should Come with Warning Texts

If you want your therapy to be counted as treatment and a clinical intervention – I think it should come with warning texts about possible dangerous side effects and some context about what it contains, the maker of the brand, etc.

THEN people can make a more informed decision whether it is for them or not.

If it is as effectual as it is said, it has power in all directions, not only towards what is good for the person in therapy. And I do think therapy can be very powerful. And I think some modalities are more powerful than others.

But as early theorists on learning pointed out, Dewey and Freire e.g., is that strong experiences can lead in any direction, you can either expand your mind/heart/life from them, or you can contract.

Growth/degrowth lies on a spectrum. Which way a person goes is not given and will be affected by what kind of therapy they receive from what therapist. I am not saying what feels good always leads to growth and what feels uncomfortable always leads to degrowth. Not at all – but it can not be up to the practitioner to decide what is needed all the time. They should not see themselves as gardeners (continuing the growth metaphor), they are just plants growing too. I wish more therapists would be more honest and transparent about that.

What is intended, perhaps, as a corrective experience, can easily end up becoming a negatively confirming experience.

And I know therapists and other mental health practitioners know this, because there are a lot of people who will never access therapy because someone decided it is not for them, telling them they lack enough introspection ability, processing ability, ability to change etc.

If therapy cannot be dangerous, it cannot be growth promoting.

But no one talks about the fact that some therapists should not be handed these powerful tools, neither should they work with certain people. Then it is not the so-called client/patient that is not having enough ability, but the therapist. And this goes for all therapists, sometimes you are doing a shitty job, sometimes you are dangerous to a person, no matter how well-intended you are.

So, there is no inherent growth in therapy. All therapists do not understand growth, and certainly not in all people coming to them.

Sometimes therapy ends up making everything worse. But no one talks about the perils of therapy, especially not therapists looking for more or new clients. Because they also need to make a living. They might talk about therapist/client being a good fit or not, from a personal perspective, but not about the risks of therapy itself. What I talk about is not about “chemistry”, it is more than that. It is about real dangers, and real powerful interactions. And we all know power can be used and misused. On purpose or not.

If therapy cannot be dangerous, it cannot be growth promoting.

And well, if a therapy is growth promoting or not, does not depend on if the therapist is certified or not, if they call themselves a clinician or not, if they think their therapy is a treatment or not, but what I am saying here, if they do think this, they should also realize warning texts and more information of the potential risks with therapy should be in place.

Therapy comes with risks, whoever the therapist is.

You cannot offer a medical intervention, a treatment, and not follow the rules for that.

For those of you who think only unregulated therapy and therapy given by uncertified therapist can be dangerous, I am sorry to disappoint you. And for those of you who think ethical boards will protect you as a client, I am sorry to disappoint you too.

Therapy comes with risks, whoever the therapist is. And what we need to do is to educate ourselves as “clients”, about those risks, because therapists are not doing it. Or any other institution that refers people to therapy. They talk about all the positive things it can give you, but not the negative ones.

It should not be like this, the burden of information should be on the professional, the one that is paid, otherwise it looks like a con/scam profession. But as I said, do your exploration, scrutinize, interview, and leave early if something feels off. I wish I had done that, several times, but back then, I will still be thinking they are trained and know what they do and that they would take responsibility if something went wrong. Now I know this is not the case.

PS. I can also be dangerous as a therapist, to some people. I will up my efforts to talk about that even more with anyone seeking me out as a therapist (supervisor/teacher/educator/mentor…).