Splitting on psychologists

I think talk therapy is just a psychologists way of taking your money, that it doesnt help and is a waste of time but has remained the norm because its the bread and butter money maker for them despite the US army dropping it for Yoga.

Discuss...

I moved your post, SB. This is a better forum for this discussion.

Talk therapy is helpful for me. Since I don't talk to anyone else ever. No idea how typical I am, though. One data point isn't much use. I prefer it to yoga though.

Hmmm thats what I thought when I was seeing one, they do help you understand whats going on but in my experience they dont treat the underlying problem.

Have you ever thought that maybe rather than trying to solve your issues that your therapist is instead just being a good friend or perhaps even keeping an eye on you for instability?

I have seen 3 psychologists so far. The 1st must have thought I had NPD when really I had dissociation and needed zoloft, he left me with the advice of do whatever, this was in highschool, I assumed I was retarded and couldnt get any help, perhaps this was the best psychologist I could have seen at the time, they did not have DBT back then. Looking back I cant think of a better outcome.

The 2nd went to complete $#%^ and thats when I ended up in a ward, he had OCPD so had assertiveness issues which didnt mesh with me at all, my friend also went to see him, neither of us made any progress with him and this guy is high up there for a psychologist, he is a CBT psychologist, he was much better but again had no idea how to treat BPD and just treated it like NPD or ASPD, so that didnt end well.

The 3rd was a women, she was even more crazy than the 2nd, she asked about my income and flirted with me then later denied it, I checked her up on the regulatory webpage after and her license is suspended. She made the same mistake of giving me a book on ACT.
LOL giving ACT to a borderline patient is the worst thing you can do, its akin to telling a schizophrenic to listen to the voices.



From what I have learnt, at least in Australia only a doctor with a medical degree can diagnose DSM disorders, all psychologists can do is recomend a book and do talk therapy, in my experience the books they recomend are inefficient, its just a lot of text with a few exercises thrown in.

When I was in the ward they had one psychologist talk to a completely bat $#%^ insane person, and the psychologist would just agree and play along with the dumbest $#%^.

Heres a pro-tip, if a psychologist or psych nurse keeps re-assuring you something is just anxiety then you need to talk to a shrink.

SBBro wrote:Have you ever thought that maybe rather than trying to solve your issues that your therapist is instead just being a good friend or perhaps even keeping an eye on you for instability?

I'm not unstable. And if I thought they were being a friend, I wouldn't be there. That wouldn't be comfortable.

From what I have learnt, at least in Australia only a doctor with a medical degree can diagnose DSM disorders, all psychologists can do is recomend a book and do talk therapy, in my experience the books they recomend are inefficient, its just a lot of text with a few exercises thrown in.

Talk therapy is enough for some issues, though. It's like saying aspirin is ineffective for migraines. It might help a little. Probably won't hurt. Other approaches may be much better. Doesn't mean aspirin is always useless though.

I think that talk therapy helps some people, but otherwise it's just a money-maker. Like how a few other posts said that therapy didn't do squat for them because it was basically like rent-a-friend.

I seriously have found that this forum, the research I've done, and just talking to people in general has been far more help to me than going to a therapist was. I recently posted about my bad experience voluntarily going to a therapist; I know that there's good and bad people in every profession but damn what a waste of time and money. Sometimes you do need to sound things off in your life to someone who is supposed to advocate for you yet doesn't know your family, friends, the other people you interact with. But I found myself leaving the few sessions I attended feeling more pissed off and that barely any time was spent on the real reason I was seeking help.

I did have one good experience with a psychologist, the one who headed the counseling service at my college. She wound up helping my entire family. But I had to see a different one in high school against my will and they were just BS sessions. The therapist I just saw talked too much about things I didn't even solicit advice for-- I didn't ask to be treated for depression, I didn't say anything about my body yet I'm getting body-shamed and asked about things that depress me-- while in sharp contrast the one I saw in high school rarely ever said anything but was otherwise a more empathetic person.

Speaking as an American, all that ever seems to be done here is just make people go to talk therapy and/or put them on psychotropic drugs to shut them up. One useless psychiatrist tried to prescribe me Remeron and I refused to take it. I'd rather not have to worry about those things clashing with another pill if I get sick. Drugs aren't going to absolve my guilt or reverse the past. I'd rather be taking a really long walk, going to see bands, doing the things I like after I've been forced to not think about the things that weigh on my mind at my jobs. If talk therapy helps some people, that's great. It's not a one size fits all thing though. I personally think psychotropic meds are WAY over-prescribed because it's easier to just write a scrip than solve the root of why someone is anxious, depressed, paranoid, or guilty. (And in America, god forbid some big corporation isn't making money...and cutting the psychiatrists in.)

They think that they will shoot in their own feet if they solved the underlying issues, but that is not true.