This thread was started in a spirit of genuine enquiry. The poll itself indicates that there are a lot of divergent points of view. To say that people who been through therapy do not know their own minds about it and what they experienced is ridiculous.

I am on record repeatedly here as suspicious of therapy, and I do think the profession is fundamentally flawed. I find it semi-helpful and therefore will continue to use it as long as I find it so. Some people have had terrible experiences - as I acknowledged repeatedly on this thread and others - and some people have had very positive experiences. I belong in neither camp.

Frankly, I find the debate on here between the posters who, yes, dismiss clients' bad experiences as some sort of aberration and the posters who insist that their bad experiences mean that there can be no positive aspects to it incredibly tedious, with obnoxious and overbearing posts from both sides.

As I said, I started this thread in the spirit of genuine enquiry, and it has taught me a number of things. This does not include the conclusion that any client who thinks they hold power in their relationship with their therapist is deluded.

I hesitated to start this thread, fearing that it would devolve quickly into what it has now devolved into. It is not in the spirit of genuine enquiry to insist that someone with a different opinion than you is deluded. I mean that for both sides - those who think the therapist holds the power and those who don't.

I am requesting that the moderators close this thread.