I feel like one needs to be in the right place in order to engage in a support community such as ours. Obviously we can't create a guideline that says, "Only say nice things about therapists, even if you've had a horrible experience." I think it's important and valuable that people understand there are good and bad therapists, just as there are in every profession.

That can be hard to hear when you're in the throes of depression or another disorder. I use to take such comments personally, but I've learned over the years that the comments are based upon actual experiences -- which cannot be ignored or put aside. Locally, a famous Fox News psychiatrist was just charged with having sexual relationships with 3 of his patients. So unethical behavior happens more than it should at all levels.

Should patients try and entrap their therapists or other healthcare provider? This depends on numerous variables, such as what exactly happened, whether you believe they're doing it to others, your own emotional strength, your state laws, your state's licensing board, and whether you're working with law enforcement. Personally, I wouldn't be comfortable trying to do that, but I can understand how a situation might be so bad that you feel like the professional is a danger to others. I like to leave law enforcement, however, up to the police.

Patients are used to professionals devaluing their experiences and suggesting that things are better than they are. And while I think a community such as ours is hardly an objective sample (so it should be taken with a grain of salt), I also believe we lose something if we try and silence these voices, or suggest they are lonely outliers. While I'd say unethical behavior is *not* the norm for either healthcare or mental health professionals, it does happen more often than either profession acknowledges. And that's one of the reasons we're here -- to acknowledge and give a voice to those whose voice is too often silenced.