I didn't read the article yet, but at first this idea seemed far-fetched, that it almost seemed as if it wasn't true.

Being that this type of behavior is a complex, defensive strategy for people with complex issues behind the behavior, my guess would be that a T could be sued for malpractice for terminating a client for having this problem. I suppose they could get away with it if they terminated the client for not being able to help them. And of course a T with this mindset couldn't help them indeed because it is a sign of someone who is not competent in treating the most complex problems of the human psyche.

I don't like the behavior either. My mother is a perpetual victim. The problem is, if this defensive strategy is undone, I really think she would have a total breakdown. It would be harmful to force her to relinquish this defense that is unconscious to her. And denial is the defense mechanism that keeps in unconscious.

Yes, so this behavior bothers me too, but none of us chose which defensive strategies to start adopting while we are babies. I didn't choose dissociation and repression. People don't choose the splitting that borderline and narcissistic clients do. Just like people don't choose to be in denial. My mother didn't choose to be a perpetual victim at the time it developed. The defensive processes start with infant development. My mother uses denial a lot too. Her use of this defense has really harmed me when I was a child. So observing others use this defense can be frustrating to me, so I understand.

So while it's frustrating to observe, it can be dangerous to force someone to stop doing it, and a therapist that careless could be sued for malpractice I suppose. Yes, it can take years. I am starting to have more compassion for people who adopt these kind of behaviors. I try. But they really aren't any better or worse than any of the other defense strategies people use-denial, obsessive behavior, perfectionism, closing oneself off to intimacy/attachment, DID, etc., although it seems some are deemed more acceptable than others, depending on the group.

Anyway, it's an interesting discussion.