- Ineffective or unethical therapists
- Unproven psychological theories
- The social stigma of therapy
- Vague, ever-changing standards for diagnosis
- Money and managed care
- Time commitment
- The therapist/client match (or mismatch)
- Communication problems in therapy
- Clients feeling unequipped to be an
active participant in their therapy
- Etc., etc.
The list could go on and on. With more than a century of professional psychotherapy under our belt,
we psychologists have done a terrible job of defining what we do, setting standards for what we do and explaining what we
do in a way that non-psychologists can understand. Despite this horribly inefficient marketing, about one in four people have sought out mental
health services in the past couple years. How many of them encountered one of the problems listed above?
I've always felt a duty to demystify
psychotherapy. The more the public understands about this process, the quicker they'll leave bad therapy, fight the stigma,
challenge the limitations of managed care and become an active, empowered participant in their own healing process. I believe
a little education will save money and time, prevent aggravation and eventually help improve lives.
For years I've been taking complicated
psychological concepts and translating them into the language normal people use. From the years I spent teaching at a community
college and graduate schools to my book and eventually my blog, the aim has been the same: make psychology accessible. Below
you find links to blogs and other articles that keep this in mind, I hope you find it helpful.
