Women Share Their Messiest Therapy Experiences, Including A Therapist Who Made Patients Get Matching Tattoos

Nearly a third of American women are in therapy, whether seeking help with anxiety, depression, work stress or relationship issues, tens of millions of women seek support.

But what happens when the professional you turn to to help you with your problems ends up becoming a problem?

Women on social media are sharing their therapy horror stories, including paying professionals hundreds of dollars an hour only to have them fall asleep in sessions, victims blaming their clients or telling them to just “get over it” their problems

A 31-year-old New Yorker told DailyMail.com that one of the first times she visited a therapist in high school, the provider fell asleep in her chair “just as I finally got the courage to open up about something that had happened to me.’

Not only was it uncomfortable, it was very discouraging.

And she’s not the only patient “whose trauma wasn’t entertaining enough to keep the therapist awake.”

Amy Nordhues, author of He prayed: to be freed from the therapist’s abuseshe said in a TikTok: “There are so many bad therapists out there.”

Ms Nordhues said her therapist fell asleep during one of her sessions while describing “a very painful story”.

“He had the nerve to ask me,” Ms. Nordhues said in the video.

He added: “And he said, ‘Well, I’ve heard that story a million times.’

Licensed marriage and family therapist Lauren Accolla described three main red flags to look for when seeing a therapist: lack of progress; the therapist shares more personal information or crosses boundaries; and the professional does not disclose their training or licensing information.

In an example of blurring the patient-provider line, Ray Yasmine described her horror therapy story on TikTok: “I saw my first long-term therapist when I was a teenager. I trusted her with all my guts.

“When we stopped the therapeutic relationship, he invited me to his house, took me out to eat, and the day I moved out of state for graduate school, he took me to get tattoos together .

“My current therapist, who she referred me to, later reported her (but no repercussions) and only at 26. [years old] he realized how bad it all was.

“The tattoo is now covered.”

Dr. Liz, who is a psychologist herself, said in a TikTok that she has had her own experiences with “really toxic therapists,” including those who have pushed the boundaries of the clinical relationship.

Dr Liz said: “Therapists make mistakes, and that’s human of us, but these are obviously unacceptable.”

The psychologist said she has had therapists flirt and push romantic and sexual boundaries with her, take her partner’s side in couples therapy and “ghost” her, suddenly and unexpectedly ending all communication without warning or explanation

In some cases, therapists respond without compassion, give bad advice, or minimize a patient’s feelings and experiences.

TikTok user Brianne Olsen described her “worst therapy experience ever” in a video, saying her therapist told her: “You seem to have everything going for you, you have no reason to be sad.”

The therapist also ruled out his symptoms of depression and previous diagnosis of ADHD.

He ended the appointment by telling Ms. Olsen to “cheer up.”

Ms. Olsen said the experience made her not want to return to therapy, but commenters, including some who identified themselves as therapists, told her to “Give up [the therapist]not therapy.’

Reddit user Azmasaco wrote that her therapist told her to “wipe the slate clean” and trust her husband again after years of physical and emotional abuse and infidelity.

Another wrote to their therapist who told them, “Stop being sad and talk to people,” even though the person suffers from depression and social anxiety.

Reddit user FutureMailCarrier wrote that her therapist’s advice for dealing with her issues was “Face your fears.”

On Tiktok, Victoria Vance, the daughter of a therapist, said a provider she went to as a child for her anxiety told her to “pray to God about it.”

“That wasn’t the answer I was looking for,” he said.

User MeltyMermaid97 commented that one of her therapists said it was her father’s fault she got cancer.

Another added that his therapist told him to “stop doing the drama” when he was having a mental breakdown during one of their sessions.

In another case, a Reddit user was told by a practitioner that she would “lose her mind” someday after she revealed that a man had been following her around a store kissing, waving and asking for her number even after asked him, shortly after he had been chased. by another man

Redditer Wackydetective said: “About a year before my dad died, they convinced him to go to therapy. He was a retired truck driver with a potty mouth. My brother disappeared 10 years ago after he died my mother. It was my father’s greatest sorrow.

“The therapist said to her: I think it’s time to accept that your son is dead.

WrestlingWoman also commented: “First time seeing one. I’ve never opened up before and I decided to give her a fair shot. I answered all her questions and told her what happened to me when I was little .

“His response to my trauma: “Why haven’t you finished it yet? Other people had it worse than you and they’ve gotten over it.”

Dr. Danna Bodenheimer, a therapist in Philadelphia, said, “Therapists can be incredibly harmful, and in fact, if therapists don’t monitor themselves with constant vigilance, they’re likely to do something harmful because they’re given sense of power and a false sense of experience about the people they work with that often make the person feel like they don’t know themselves.

He said it was important for therapists to be “human” and engage with their clients in a way that lets patients know “they’re sitting with a real person.”

Despite the summary of bad advice and unprofessional behavior, both therapists and patients stress the importance of therapy and explain that it can take some time to find a provider you connect with and feel comfortable with.

But, many add, it’s worth it in the end.