Quote:
Originally Posted by feileacan
That's the thing - I'm not convinced at all that you are in any way establishing the true nature of therapy. You are just focussing on some details you personally have bad experiences with and try to generalise them to the whole concept of psychotherapy without any logical chain of arguments. At least you don't present such logical chain of argument (the argument that all your therapists were bad doesn't really count as evidence that psychotherapy is inherently bad or dangerous). I'm sure you disagree with me but I'm fine with that.
Also, I don't think the successes are anecdotal. Surely, the successes are probably more rarely talked about for obvious reasons - if everything goes well what's there to talk about?
I understand the motivation to support yourself and others who feel similarly but I don't see how you will achieve this support by trying to make generalisations that clearly aren't true.
|
Both sides of the story are anecdotal. The problem is that the effects of therapy cannot be measured objectively: all evidence is self-reported.
It's also not a sure thing to assume that only successes are under-reported. Failures can be under-reported too, for various reasons - think of how crimes, especially sexual ones, are often not reported by the victim because of shame and other personal reasons.
I think one of Bud's basic points is absolutely true - this is a flawed system, and in the wrong hands it is ripe for abuse. That does not mean everyone is negatively (or positively) affected. Some people can never exercise and overeat but have no weight problems. Some people can exercise a lot and watch every mouthful and still be overweight.