Posted by mandinka on November 4, 2004, at 4:14:42
In reply to I think you are missing my point... » mandinka, posted by Crazy_Charlie on November 4, 2004, at 1:48:44
The point I was trying to get across is: a person that hasn't been through decent therapy won't be "clean" enough to deal with the problems of other people - unless of course s/he had the luck of having a really good childhood, good parenting and therefore is pretty neurotic-free. Otherwise his or her own unresolved problems will tend to get in the way and no amount of knowledge and training can prevent this in the long run. Empathy and mental health cannot be taught. Those who are damaged themselves will hurt their clients without even noticing it.
Just like you said - there are people who despite all the training continue to hurt their patients, no matter how much feedback they get. Training cannot heal one's core problems, hidden behind the barrier of repression where self-exploration that remains on the level of adult reasoning doesn't reach.
This is why I believe in regressive therapy and well-trained regressive therapists. No knowledge gained at the university can measure up to the visceral, intuitive understanding of human nature of someone who has truly delved into their own past, relived the repressed pain and diffused its neurotic charge. That is exactly why my T2, who has a MSW degree doesn't train people who themselves didn't go through several years of regressive therapy even if they have PhDs in clinical psychology.
The elimination process of education is helpful and so is hands-on training but at the end of the day it is the healthy personality of the therapist that makes the real difference. I had the impression from your previous post that you considered training, confirmed by a degree the best way to assess the therapist's worth. I stand corrected. I'm not saying that training isn't important and I completely agree that a quality-checking system should be in place, so irresponsible people are kept out of the loop. Indeed, practising psychotherapy without formal education IS weird.
If I were shopping for a therapist now, I'd like to know if they have training but the most important issue would be how much therapy they've had themselves, if they are still in therapy and under supervision, how open they are about their own past. Are they comfortable talking about it? A person that hides, has something to hide from his/herself. Such a defensive person is not a trustworthy therapist imo. This is what is important to me. Someone else can have of course a different point of view, different needs.
poster:mandinka
thread:411163
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20041104/msgs/411448.html