Sacramento Street Psychiatry

I never understood the idea that therapists need perfect lives to help others. After all there are a lot of sports instructors who are coaching athletes who are superior at the sport. Same is true of singing instructors. Sometimes being an outsider gives you a different perspective especially if you are knowledgeable about a topic.

And personally I would much rather a therapist who's been to therapy before.

Just a bit of a sharing. It happens to me many times.I am finishing my Phd in psychology this year. People around me including my parents always think that I expert at "accepting people behaviour" therefore I able to accept wrong behaviour of other people which literally means forgive them. I frequently answered them " I probably able to give you logical explanation for people behaviour but it not necessary mean that I should be able to accept that people have made a nasty thing to me" Recently I had problem with my flat mate, so my other flat mate commented to me " you are almost psychologist, don't you think you should be able to accept the situation?" This kind of comment really hits me on the face every time.

I think a patient may also be anxious about what the therapist discusses in his/her own therapy. If the patient is revealing his most personal feelings, is the therapist repeating them to his own therapist? If so, does that suggest that these feelings are weird? Does the therapist's therapist think they're silly? Does the patient feel like he's losing control of his most personal thoughts?

I would go so far as to say that an unanalyzed therapist is a potential danger to his clients.

So much of what we do as therapists involves separating our own feelings from what we are picking up from our clients in order to best understand and interpret their material. In order to do this accurately we need to have a very deep understanding of our own inner life.

A thorough therapy and ongoing peer supervision help to ensure that the therapy stays on track and the client can do the work that he needs to do.

I believe there is much truth to the saying that a therapist can take you only as far as he has gone himself - and without his own therapy, that is pretty much nowhere.

I think we have to realize that therapists are human, the same goes with lawyers, neurosurgeons and proctologists. Events happen in life which may be unexpected and tragic, so how do therapists cope during these situations? Sometimes a therapist may need the support provided by another therapist.

I do agree with the first comment post, that life experience may help in understanding the clients we see, and it also may help us coach clients in a positive, healthy direction in life.

Our own personal experiences may be helpful, but I also feel the last comment is true. It is important to separate our own feelings so that it does not interfere with our patient's treatment. I think therapy can be helpful and sometimes a very educational experience, but I don't feel it is necessary. I believe it is neccessary if one cannot set boundaries in therapy, especially by disengaging self from transference/countertranference issues.

This article is thoughtful in many ways but only implies that therapist/professionals ought not to divulge -- i.e., "without answering the query directly..." whether or not they personally have been or are currently in therapy.

Intellectually, my guess is that most training programs include several hours or some measureable quantity/quality of practical therapeutic sessions by the completion of which the candidate is assessed as ready (or not) to conduct therapy independent of a mentor/advisor. So, as one of the population of therapy clients, I've always assumed my therapist received his/her own counselling...up to and possibly beyond obtaining some sort of licensing or credential (ongoing work with a trainer or guide could be helpful in the manner of "tune-ups.")

I've also assumed that if a couselor had difficulties w/ issues that a patient presented, their practice's Director would be informed and that considerations (in the patient's best interest) might include further "staffing," or conferring with a lead or "expert" in their field by the therapist in question.

Personally, I don't have the disadvantage of considering talk therapy either as a "need" nor a deficiency. It's been shown to be more effective, long-term, than pharmaceuticals. An interesting sidelight on this discussion is the fleeting success of support or "rap" groups as a method of desensitizing "therapy" as a morally-suspect "need." I remember well the Human Potential Movement's initiative in several quasi-counseling efforts: women's issues, "rebirthing" practices (a la Leonard Orr), self-actualization, etc. Many of us, I believe, felt we were on the inside track to understanding our own make-up as well as the culture which surrounded us.

Your response to your client was obnoxious and evasive. A client has a right to know if their therapist has been through the therapy process themselves. I would not see a therapist who hadn't been in therapy themselves for a substantial amount of time and who currently in on-going supervision. Regardless of your rules about self-disclosure asking one's therapist of she/he has been or is now in therapy is a basic right as a patient, akin to asking one's heart surgeon about his background and if he's ever done this type of surgery before.

If you were my therapist and you evaded that question when I asked I'd thank you for your time and leave.

It is a valid question to ask one's therapist. Answer the question and then explore the feelings behind it.