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Monday, July 8, 2019

Countertransference: the problem with current policy

This idea and common practice that says a therapist should immediately and absolutely terminate if counter-transference, specifically (and maybe especially) of the romantic kind, is very wrong. While I don't know an exact solution and I most certainly do not know of a perfect solution I know the aforementioned practice, that seems to be common practice and the APA expectation, is very very wrong. Here are some reasons why:
1. What an easy policy to abuse and/or for a corrupt therapist to use to their advantage. If a therapist is grooming and it isn't going as planned, the patient is about to blow his cover, No problem, claim countertransference and the patient is cut off and cut out, no questions asked.
2. It is only protecting the therapist and/or the facility they work for and often at great cost to client/patient.
3. THIS IS A BIG DEAL IF THE INDUSTRY ACTUALLY CARES ABOUT THE HEALTH AND WELlBEING OF THOSE THEY CLAIM TO BE HELPING, AND ESPECIALLY FOR SOME OF THE MOST VULNERABLE. You send the message to the person that even if they are actually lovable they are not worth the time or energy to care for or invest in. It becomes deeply engrained with the betrayal of a therapist whether countertransference is admitted or not. I imagine it would be even more difficult to overcome if the countertransference were in no way admitted because then the person would know what they felt but be completely confused by the sudden dropping. The message would be received with no logical answer and no place to turn to while distrusts and abuses that had them questioning their self worth in the first place are completely confirmed to the ultimate level.
4. The patient client may behave very strange feeling like they need to protect the therapist but not knowing what from or why and while being cut off from them completely. They may be needing to solve what is going on with their head not knowing what is what, for example is it TBI, mood instability, triggered mania, or some silly fantasy of a forbidden love that just became very real. It's very confusing and yet fed by the APA ethical rule that says no contact for at least two years if there is ever to be a relationship. Then, in they event that the therapist is actually romantically interested, they are required to abuse the patient client through isolation and rejection, in order to pursue that. And even if they are not interested in pursuing that, the patient that felt it, that knows there was something, is stuck in that head game with the power of the therapeutic relationship and their willingness to trust and be vulnerable working against them and this is further fed by the fact that the therapist won’t talk to them or help them sort this out in anyway.
It is a very difficult head game to escape and it is not fair to the patient. The only people it protects are those in power and it is an absolute abuse of power.
I have blogged extensively about my situation and how it has effected me internally, while the thoughts and opinions expressed their do not represent me entirely as a whole and/or they may not reflect well how I am functioning on a daily basis, It has been my therapeutic outlet and my method of both processing and coping. I have published all this on my blog that is not advertised and few people know about because it is how I feel I can be honest and transparent and I also publish in hopes that in someway it might reach and help others at some point. You are welcome to read it.

**after publishing I sent this to the APA. Do you think they will listen?
Please read follow up entries. You can find those by clicking directly on the "Am I Crazy" title or finding the entries by date on the right side. 

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