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Old Jun 02, 2013, 12:25 AM
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scorpiosis37 scorpiosis37 is offline
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Member Since: Apr 2010
Location: USA
Posts: 2,302
Quote:
Originally Posted by just_some_girl View Post
The guy clearly has no understanding of complex issues.

"If you need human support, before running to a therapist, schedule regular check-ins with ... “a loving taskmaster.” If that’s not enough, then perhaps sign up for a few sessions with a good career coach or with a therapist who specializes in brief cognitive-behavioral therapy."

Sorry, no. That may be fine for those with some motivation related issues, career-related indecisiveness, or a touch of situational depression - but it will work for **** all else. I think the last thing a person with a history of trauma or neglect needs is some arrogant ignoramus with no understanding of what they're going through telling them that they're lazy, that everything is their fault, and that they need to pull themselves up by their bootstraps.

Offensive.

Grr. Like anyone needs any help with the critical voice in their head.
I couldn't agree with you more, Just_Some_Girl. This jerk-off knows NOTHING about the terminology he is using, how therapy works, or the fact that you cannot make generalizations about the effectiveness of long therapy from clopping together some anecdotal evidence about a few career counseling clients who happen to have also been in therapy. What an idiot! I wonder if it ever occurred to him to think about those who have been in long-term therapy and do not NEED career counseling!

I've been in therapy for 3 years, and do not see termination on the horizon. I also would never come into contact with someone like this guy since I don't need job counseling, as I have a PhD and a successful career. The 3 criteria he lists do not apply to successful, functioning people who are doing the "hard work" of therapy with a qualified therapist. He only interacts with those people who are struggling with their careers, perhaps because they are not far ENOUGH along in their therapy, their therapists were unqualified and enabling, or they have other disabilities/struggles that make it difficult for them to find or keep employment. To say long-term therapy does not work by only looking at those who are struggling is ridiculous. How many of us are successful, in part because we have had long-term therapy?

To say that those in long-term therapy are indulging their narcissism is one of the most offensive things I have ever heard. For those of us who had traumatic childhoods and did not receive any love, attention, or care growing up-- and are just beginning to feel as though we *deserve* to think about our own needs (since our needs have always been ignored and we have been the caretakers of others our whole lives)-- it really feels appauling. Therapy is the first time in my life that I've ever even thought of myself as having needs-- and that it's okay to have needs-- and that it's okay to ask for help and support from others To have this guy come and say that therapy makes us narcissistic is ignorant, damaging, and offensive.

And to say that therapy acts as an alibi for laziness? So he's calling those in long-term therapy lazy? I can't speak for his career counseling clients, but I can speak for myself and for others who are in long-term therapy. Let's see. I work 60 hours a week, volunteer 10 hours a week, help out friends and family several hours a week--- oh yes, and spend 1 hour a week on myself in therapy. Sounds pretty lazy and narcissistic, doesn't it? The ignorance in this guy's article really gets under my skin.

If he were going to treat his observations as hypotheses, he would actually have to conduct a study of those in long-term therapy-- not just those who he happens to meet in the career counseling office. I wonder what he would think when he encountered people in long-term therapy who are are employed, educated, successful, hard-working, motivated, giving, generous, and emotionally healthy? You mean people in long-term therapy can stop focusing on themselves and making excuses long enough to go to work? He doesn't even have a clue how scientific observation and the scientific method work (assuming he was trying to claim that his observations have some kind of credence). Not only does he fail to recognize that he is only meeting those clients who need career services, but with his objective attitude and scientific curiosity, I'm sure his observations of his clients who have been in therapy are totally unbiased, right? He certainly doesn't come into the room with a preconceived idea about which clients will be more successful, right? I wonder if he's ever heard of anything called a self-fulfilling prophesy. If his job is to help struggling clients find jobs, who do you think he works harder with: those clients who have been in therapy or those who haven't? Who do you think he shows compassion and encouragement towards, and who do you think he brushes off as a "lost cause?" You think his attitude might affect his performance as a career counselor and/or rub off on his clients? If he doesn't recognize that, HE'S the lost cause-- and he's in the wrong profession. He's calling his own clients narcissistic and lazy! And he's the one charged with encouraging them to be successful workers?! Anyone else see something wrong with this system?

*rant ends here*
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