Dear Ex-Therapist -

It has been a year since we have spoken.

I wonder how it feels to be able to disown your 'mistakes' and start over with someone new. Do you feel redeemed?

I have nearly recovered from your services, but I am still furious when I think about the many ways you have failed me.

As an FYI - if you accept money for psychotherapy services and pose as a therapist, it might serve you well to learn the signs of client traumatic responses in therapy. If your formerly polite and 'worried well' client starts speaking and behaving uncharacteristically crazy, it is not because you missed the signs that you were working with a bad person who just masqueraded as 'normal'. Perhaps you should believe their self-reported level of duress and struggle with what is going on within your walls, on your watch. The following therapist responses are never helpful when a client is actively re-experiencing their traumas and are on the verge of mental collapse:

1) Labeling your client
2) Imitating your client's confessions of their feelings towards you in a patronizing voice
3) Invalidating your client's emotional responses to your actions
4) Disbelieving what a client is reporting they are experiencing in the moment
5) Revealing your 'true thoughts and feelings' about lies you have previously told your client
6) 'Taking back' complements and kind actions you have done for your client
7) Threatening to terminate your client for 'lack of progress'
8) Blaming your client for being triggered 'over nothing'
9) Shaming your client for their constant suffering
10) Telling your client they are 'too much'
11) Using a condescending or mocking tone with your client
12) Talking about how much you have helped other clients and how much they adore you
13) Blaming your client for the 'extra time' you spend on them

I suspect you will not take any of this advice because you think you are perfect. I do hope you know that there is one person in the world who thinks you are a total %$#@*.

Best,
PM

PS - When a client asks to take a break, it is not always because they are in denial of how much they love you and want to be with you. Perhaps YOU are the one who is too much.