Thanks, Rose76, for making this thread current again.

The differences between therapy and "real world" relationships need to be highlighted and listed in the consent form for any sort of "interpersonal" therapy where the "relationship" is a factor in the therapy.

Because I didn't have any authentically "real" relationships from family or peers going into therapy, there is no way I could tell the difference. "Do the right thing" was what I had been taught, and tried to learn, growing up. It worked sort of OK in terms of work and getting along in society on a day-to-day level. But led to depression, etc., which I why I went to society's mandated, recommended solution for those kinds of issues. Go to therapy, the "right thing to do" under those circumstances.

In addition to the differences between a therapy and a real relationship being listed on the consent form, for people who don't have any authentic, real relationships, education in what that is like should be at the forefront of any psychosocial intervention. This is something very different from DBT, for instance, which seems to be for people who have problematic relationships, not people who numb out to avoid the difficulties with them. It was counterproductive and even hurtful, again, for me because the group leaders didn't "get" me, just told me to do the exercises, etc. "Doing as you are told" was a skill I learned at 5, I didn't need it (again) at 65.