This topic came to me after spending some hours looking for a prospective new therapist. It's hard work, and especially sad if you have to leave (or are left behind) by a really good one. My most recent two therapists were great, especially my most recent one, but the former ended her practice, and the latter moved her office over one hour away from my home. Ugh! But there were some real doozies before them.

My current psychiatrist of 13 years is wonderful, and the ones before him were OK or at least pass muster. It is therapists that really provided horror stories.

*Dr. X (psychologist) - Constant text checking, Reese's Pieces eating, overly interested in my sex life, wanted to discuss depression when I was hypomanic, stated that he didn't "believe in" certain diagnoses that appear in the DSM-IV (at that time). And then my husband found on the internet that he had been suspended and fined in the past for having sex with a client.

*The therapist that was "afraid of me" - I had a female therapist that just wasn't prepared to help a bipolar 1 client. She often yelled at me, and at one point I became manic and she "suspended" me telling me not to come back until my psychiatrist said I was well enough. That shocked my psychiatrist who received a call from her saying I "scared her". When I finally returned to her she asked if we could reduce our meetings to once per month. I got the drift.

*Dr. S-F (psychologist) - The "adulation" psychologist. So extreme that I had to consult with my psychiatrist and husband about it. They advised me to ask that psychologist to stop, and I did, but to avail. There were times when I even scolded him for it. In some sessions, the compliment counts numbered as many as six, i.e. "Your hair looks beautiful! Those are the most stylish shoes I've ever seen! Any company in all the world would be honored to have you as an employee! None of my other clients are as conscientious as you! Your voice is so lovely! Your sweater looks so soft, can I touch it? You absolutely amaze me every time you're here! I wouldn't say these things if they weren't absolutely true!" And then once when I asked him if he compliments his other clients like he did me, he said "I wouldn't do so if I didn't mean them 100%" Well, I had to quit him because it really started to spook the hell out of me. He didn't help me in any other way, anyway. My psychiatrist told me to only look for female therapists after that.

*The Animal Farm Therapist - This lasted one session. The moment I sat down on her couch, I had two dogs sniffing me, a cat on my lap, and two behind me sitting on the back of the couch.

How about yours?