Here's something you need to know. There is a widely-held belief that psychotherapy is either helpful or useless. Actually, studies have shown it can also be qu

Here's something you need to know. There is a widely-held belief that psychotherapy is either helpful or useless. Actually, studies have shown it can also be quite harmful. In particular, some therapists help most of the patients, some therapists have little effect on most of them, and some are outright harmful most. I have spent time observing group therapists, and that fits what I saw. I have also asked experienced therapists to think about the various therapists in their community and how good or bad they are, and they came to a similar conclusion. Also I used to teach listening skills, which everyone agrees are basic to being a good therapist. I did several workshops with therapists at mental health clinics, and it was quite shocking how many of them were awful listeners. That means if you find yourself with a destructive therapist, you need to leave as fast as possible. And how do you tell? I would say the best sign is if you feel comfortable talking to the therapist and feel like they value you as a person, or feel yourself tighten up around them.