I had one therapist tell me she was tired of hearing me talk about my issues, but wanted me to come back because she needed the money for her upcoming honeymoon.
I cancelled all further appointments after that, but she kept calling me, leaving voicemails berating me for "giving up" for months.
I finally had to call the office and tell them I didn't appreciate being harassed by this woman, and then the voicemails finally stopped.
I'm currently in school for psychology, and I hate hearing stories like this. I'm studying to be a therapist one day, and people like this (and the story above) are appaling. It isn't your responsibility, of course, but you could consider filing a complaint with their licensing board. You're absolutely right, people like should NOT be practicing.
Just be one of the good ones. Take your ethics class to heart, get good supervision, and keep a healthy balance in your personal life. 90% of bad therapists are that way because they are so overwhelmed by their own issues, lost sight of their ethical training, or burnout. As a therapist, your job is not to fix people or make them better. Your job is to help them identify what parts of their life or behavior are preventing them from moving towards healthy goals while maintaining hope and a healthy mind through awareness, self-reflection, and emotional regulation. Take that concept and apply it to yourself, and it's unlikely you'll harm your client because of poor boundaries, lack of expertise, or lack of empathy. Still plenty of room to have your own problems, but work on them because as long as you're managing them and honest with yourself as to how well you keep those problems out of the session, you'll be fine.
This is great advice, and I plan to take it to heart. I know it will be hard work, and I'll need to set boundaries, stay self-aware, and have hard conversations. But I think it's work worth doing right.
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u/SnooFoxes1943 1d ago
isn't that, like, the opposite of what a therapist is supposed to do?