Quote:
Originally Posted by BudFox
My experience is that it's very mixed. Some are for sure. And sometimes the majority are in a given a thread.
But there can be invalidation in the face of criticism of therapy. For example, in one thread I said I experienced a pattern of feeling demeaned in therapy and asked if anyone could relate, and also suggested that perhaps the structure of therapy inflicts this. Some could relate and said so. Others suggested it was not really to do with therapy, it was all about me. That's not supportive. It was pretty insulting. And it mirrors what therapists do sometimes -- deflect back to the client no matter what. Not the end of the world, just what I observed.
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It's a little strange to me that you started this thread about how dissent on certain topics is not "allowed" here, but then you are upset about dissent on your own thread. If you're arguing that people should be allowed to feel that the therapy structure creates problems, why should they not also be allowed to question whether the issue comes from you rather than therapy? I didn't read that thread and I think direct insults are always out of line, so if there were direct insults then that's not fair to you and it's not ok. As a side note, I've found that people can benefit from saying up front, "I can't deal with someone disagreeing with me right now, and I'm only interested in hearing from you if you've had the same experience and share my point of view." That way it's easier to give you what you need, and to pass if I can't give that to you.
But it doesn't help your argument to say the type of dissent you subscribe to should be heard more, and that the other type is insulting and unsupportive. Saying that all opinions should be heard means ALL opinions, and suggesting otherwise makes it hard to take this very seriously. Perhaps you have a minority opinion, and perhaps that is upsetting, but that's not the same thing as not being allowed to have it.
There's a fair amount of confirmation bias going on here, where people who feel like one side is overly represented (all therapists are egomaniacal money-grubbing buttwipes, vs. therapy is sunshine and rainbows and always works) will selectively see that over and over again, because some version of both views is represented all over the forum, but when you see the one that sets you off, that's the one that sticks with you.