Can therapists be narcissists?

In the process of my life I had been to several therapists ranging from counselors, to social worker counselors, to psychologists and a lot of them seemed disinterested in listening to me and they did not have empathy and used the silent treatment. They seemed oblivious or indifferent towards the pain they were causing me. It was like somebody burning me, considering I was already in pain and then leaving the "therapy" feeling horrible about myself, I found their behaviors and ethic standards to be pathetic and on par with NPD.

They made me feel like I was some how no good or bad and nothing would get resolved or improved.

After reading about NPD I wonder if that problem is common amongst mental health professionals? Anybody else notice that?

In my opinion, it's entirely possible. I think there's a lot of truth about people getting into psychology in an effort to fix themselves. Some of the most whacked people I ever met were people in psych classes.

Agreed, entirely possible. I've got plenty of issues, fortunately, not NPD. I majored in Psych, because I swore I would be different.

Unfortunately, after some unfortunate events, I became unable to do my job. I attribute some, but not all, of my failures to other (possibly narcissistic) counselors.

So, yeah, they will turn on their patients, and their co-workers.

I think it's helpful for a psychologist/counselor to have *some* issues. Many training programs actually require their participants to attend therapy, so that the students know how their patients will feel. However, some counselors' disorders have more negative effects on clients than do other disorders. NPD being one. Hence the last sentence of my signature.

On the other hand, some therapists just don't "click" with their clients, without anything being wrong on either end. Personality clashes happen between therapist and client the same way that they do in the outside world. Psychiatry is the kind of field where it can be hard to separate the two. Unfortunately, many shrinks won't be professional enough to say, "Let me refer you to my colleague."

If you don't click then that doesn't cause extra pain and suffering. I'm just saying, regardless if the counselor's personality doesn't click, they should still be able to provide professional therapy as they were trained to do.

FrayedEndOfSanity wrote:Agreed, entirely possible. I've got plenty of issues, fortunately, not NPD. I majored in Psych, because I swore I would be different.

Unfortunately, after some unfortunate events, I became unable to do my job. I attribute some, but not all, of my failures to other (possibly narcissistic) counselors.

So, yeah, they will turn on their patients, and their co-workers.

I think it's helpful for a psychologist/counselor to have *some* issues. Many training programs actually require their participants to attend therapy, so that the students know how their patients will feel. However, some counselors' disorders have more negative effects on clients than do other disorders. NPD being one. Hence the last sentence of my signature.

On the other hand, some therapists just don't "click" with their clients, without anything being wrong on either end. Personality clashes happen between therapist and client the same way that they do in the outside world. Psychiatry is the kind of field where it can be hard to separate the two. Unfortunately, many shrinks won't be professional enough to say, "Let me refer you to my colleague."

Thewiseone wrote:If you don't click then that doesn't cause extra pain and suffering. I'm just saying, regardless if the counselor's personality doesn't click, they should still be able to provide professional therapy as they were trained to do.

I agree with you, but, sadly, it often does not happen. Sure, they can provide professional advice, but no matter how hard someone tries to hide that they don't like another person, it can show. That's why I'm saying that the responsible thing to do would be to refer their client to another therapist.

That makes sense.

FrayedEndOfSanity wrote:

Thewiseone wrote:If you don't click then that doesn't cause extra pain and suffering. I'm just saying, regardless if the counselor's personality doesn't click, they should still be able to provide professional therapy as they were trained to do.

I agree with you, but, sadly, it often does not happen. Sure, they can provide professional advice, but no matter how hard someone tries to hide that they don't like another person, it can show. That's why I'm saying that the responsible thing to do would be to refer their client to another therapist.

So you feel this way because they don't listen and lack empathy?

If that's the case, it may have something to do with their education level. Usually the more intelligent ones have a harder time with those two things.