One of the reasons I never finished my psych degree was the sheer level of con-artistry on display in the profession. It’s fucked up how so many psychologists will just peddle bullshit self-help books that they know are actively going to encourage toxic behaviour in people. Psychology under capitalism is rotted and broken.
It’s awful. There just aren’t any standards. Almost all the modalities are nonsense. I mostly keep going to therapy because it’s a concrete action I can do to prove to myself that I’m still fighting. Most of the time it’s just me talking about my problems to someone who can’t hang up for an hour.
It is awful! Therapists can be very hit or miss. Sometimes they’re little more than a sounding board for you to voice your own concerns and worries towards (Which can help, depending on what you need), sometimes they just have a magical “cure all” solution to problems (I once had a therapist who recommended exercise as a solution to my depression, which shockingly enough, didn’t help me when I didn’t even have the energy to get out of bed.)
Sometimes you can get a good therapist who can offer helpful coping mechanisms for your situation, but a lot of them can sometimes kind of feel like they’re only there for the paycheck. The best therapist I ever had was a volunteer who wasn’t getting paid, because they at least felt genuine (they were a bit “unprofessional” at times, like crying during our sessions sometimes, but that just made it feel like they genuinely were trying to help me).
This sounds like the generic “shop around” advice that you’ve probably already heard a million times before though. Though as you’ve found out, sometimes the act of going to therapy itself is the therapeutic part, proving to yourself that you can push through things.
One of the reasons I never finished my psych degree was the sheer level of con-artistry on display in the profession. It’s fucked up how so many psychologists will just peddle bullshit self-help books that they know are actively going to encourage toxic behaviour in people. Psychology under capitalism is rotted and broken.
It’s awful. There just aren’t any standards. Almost all the modalities are nonsense. I mostly keep going to therapy because it’s a concrete action I can do to prove to myself that I’m still fighting. Most of the time it’s just me talking about my problems to someone who can’t hang up for an hour.
It is awful! Therapists can be very hit or miss. Sometimes they’re little more than a sounding board for you to voice your own concerns and worries towards (Which can help, depending on what you need), sometimes they just have a magical “cure all” solution to problems (I once had a therapist who recommended exercise as a solution to my depression, which shockingly enough, didn’t help me when I didn’t even have the energy to get out of bed.)
Sometimes you can get a good therapist who can offer helpful coping mechanisms for your situation, but a lot of them can sometimes kind of feel like they’re only there for the paycheck. The best therapist I ever had was a volunteer who wasn’t getting paid, because they at least felt genuine (they were a bit “unprofessional” at times, like crying during our sessions sometimes, but that just made it feel like they genuinely were trying to help me).
This sounds like the generic “shop around” advice that you’ve probably already heard a million times before though. Though as you’ve found out, sometimes the act of going to therapy itself is the therapeutic part, proving to yourself that you can push through things.