I do see the potential for harm to people coming on this forum, including people who are just reading rather than posting, who are relatively new to therapy and/or less secure in how it works, etc. Framing viewpoints as personal experience rather than declaring ALL or even MOST of therapy/therapy are one way (good or bad -- either way is a problem) is important as people do make decisions about how to proceed based on what they read here -- for right or wrong. Someone who might really need and benefit from therapy could very potentially run from the very idea based on strongly worded opinions that are not framed as personal experience but rather as "truth" and "word" for ALL or MOST therapy/therapists. Another person who might have a truly unethical therapy situation going on might dismiss their own problems in their own therapy as invalid or mistaken based on similar declarations in the other direction made as fact rather than as personal experience.

So long as people's opinions are being framed in their own personal experience, those kinds of confusions can be mostly avoided. People can read a post about a person's personal experience, framed that way, and realize X happened to this person and it was really positive or harmful. That is different than someone declaring ALL or even MOST therapy/therapists/meds/therapy modes, etc. as good or bad (again, either direction is a problem) when the only real substantiation for their declaration is their personal opinion.

Where there is research, then use the research to substantiate those kinds of declarations and that is fine. We can look at the research and debate the merits/flaws of the research. Where there is not research, but only personal experience and anecdotal "evidence," then it seems best to be sure that kind of opinion is framed as opinion. Unfortunately, often it is not, and therein can be the potential for harm to people reading what we write here as "truth," and I do believe, as seen frequently by people who tell us so right here on this forum, what we write here often IS taken as fact and truth when it probably shouldn't always be taken that way (or perhaps ever really). Not our fault I realize, but it is something that I feel should be taken into account.