[junkDNA]

dear DocJohn and other admins and moderators

is there any way we could create a sub forum for psychotherapy abuse?

for lack of a better term... I find it triggering when I log on and see so many articles about it in the main psychotherapy forum. I've been checking the forum less and less because of this

of course this is just a request... take it or leave it

love,
junkDNA

[Echos Myron redux]

Great idea. Thanks JunkDNA.

[stopdog]

This request comes up every so often and never goes anywhere. Therapy abuse is intertwined with all things therapy. Why not have a happy therapy subforum? I don't think it is a good idea. Isn't it just as easy not to read threads you don't want to read?

[LonesomeTonight]

To me, if there's a Romantic Feelings for my Therapist subforum, there could certainly be a Therapist Abuse one. I understand how just seeing the topic titles in the main Psychotherapy could be triggering.

[Echos Myron redux]

Originally Posted by stopdog

This request comes up every so often and never goes anywhere. Therapy abuse is intertwined with all things therapy. Why not have a happy therapy subforum? I don't think it is a good idea. Isn't it just as easy not to read threads you don't want to read?

You could make that same argument for not having a romantic feelings subforum. If some people find it beneficial to have these types of topics in a subforum, I don't see why that should be a problem.

[stopdog]

I do think the same thing about the romantic feelings.
At some point, I think it just gets silly to keep separating things out.
But that is just me.

[junkDNA]

Originally Posted by stopdog

This request comes up every so often and never goes anywhere. Therapy abuse is intertwined with all things therapy. Why not have a happy therapy subforum? I don't think it is a good idea. Isn't it just as easy not to read threads you don't want to read?

I don't open and read these threads. the title alone keeps me away. I suppose I could continue not visiting the forum. I know that patterns here come in waves and die down after a while. the general forum is Psychotherapy... I don't see why there couldn't be a sub forum...

I also do not agree that therapy abuse is wholly intertwined with therapy itself. but that is my opinion

[here today]

A better term has evolved from discussions here -- therapy trauma. I don't have time to write more now but I think it would be helpful to use that term and possibly iatrogenisis.

[junkDNA]

I also want to say that I didn't make this thread to argue about anything with anyone. I don't want a debate. it is just a request and like I said... take it or leave it

thank you

As someone posting about therapy trauma - I would prefer my own spot as well. I have a hard time reading posts about therapy intimacy and healing love between clients and therapists.

[atisketatasket]

Jdna—I would PM DocJohn and the admins about this. They don’t read every post (no one could) and might not know this was here.

[unaluna]

Originally Posted by Echos Myron redux

Great idea. Thanks JunkDNA.

I totally agree. Like Romantic feelings. Right now its about half the threads on the first page and they have similar sounding titles if youre not following them. Its already its own subforum.

[Salmon77]

Originally Posted by unaluna

I totally agree. Like Romantic feelings. Right now its about half the threads on the first page and they have similar sounding titles if youre not following them. Its already its own subforum.

Agreed. I've stopped reading them and it seems like there's 5 or 6 threads with the same topic right now.

Also it seems like there's often a big argument when someone who has not had a bad experience with therapy posts in those threads.

[Taylor27]

It would be nice to have a sub forum there seems to be allot of interest and a need for it.

[downandlonely]

Originally Posted by atisketatasket

Jdna—I would PM DocJohn and the admins about this. They don’t read every post (no one could) and might not know this was here.

I agree. You need to pm DocJohn if you want this.

[nottrustin]

I have to agree while I skip many topics that do not pertain to me, at one point there were 7 different threads on the topic of therapist sbuse. Honestly, that was why I started the post about the benefits of therapy.

[ArtleyWilkins]

I agree. I think this request has been made multiple times by multiple members and it would be nice if perhaps administration considered this option.

[ArtleyWilkins]

And I like the idea of giving it a title that makes most sense to those who would benefit from it. Seems like Therapy Trauma appears to be the preference? Not sure.

[here today]

Therapy trauma and iatrogenic harm are two terms that the OP of one recent thread used. Sounds like a good title -- Therapy Trauma and Iatrogenic Harm -- to me. That person lives in Europe though, so may not have had a chance to chime in.

Just adding my two cents-

People keep referencing the romantic therapy subforum, but it doesn't make sense that forum even exists. Most of those discussions it contains are about transference or therapy abuse (eg sexual relations, boundary crossings), not romantic feelings. While discussions in the main forum area are also about transference and boundary crossings and being friends with your therapist. People discussing their idealization of a therapist is discussed in both sections.

All the extra forums and subforums at this site leads to slow moving threads/forums because there are already too many categories.

For example, we have:

Health Support
Disabilities and Chronic Diseases*
Chronic Pain Support

The same exact topics would be posted in all 3 subforums, and so all 3 would appear 'slow' or 'dead'. Slow forums deter me from posting, so I think the extra forums can deter conversations.

*There are only 3 threads in this entire forum, and one is has the topic of pain, which could easily go in the pain forum. Another thread is about diabetes, which could go in the chronic diseases forum. Why have all these forums if the topics are the same?

The topic of abuse, such as childhood abuse, is intermixed with in session discussions and threads throughout the forum so unsure how certain types of abuse can be separated.

It's good to know certain thread titles may trigger people, as I will now adjust any related thread titles to help minimize.

[Waterloo12345]

I never could understand why romantic posts were, as I perceived it, banished to a corner of the forum. Like it was shameful or other. I would feel the same for a therapy trauma thread. Everyone needs support from as wide a class of persons as appropriate.

If one is made I agree with HT on the name therapy trauma and iatrogenic harm.

This is because the focus on trauma places the emphasis on the effect on the individual, instead of the less helpful focus on the what was done to the individual and it's more inclusive for those who might not see what occurred as abuse or victimisation (or wholly so).

Iatrogenic harm brings in most anything where there has been harm in a therapeutic environment- some don't see what they've experienced as traumamatic but the same class of support may be helpful.

But I'm open to others views!

[ScarletPimpernel]

I see both sides. On the one hand, I am triggered by the negative polarized views that seem to be common with people who have experienced therapy trauma. However, I also see how separating therapy trauma into a sub-forum could be unhelpful. In my personal case, I'm so grateful that the forums weren't separated when my ex-T abandoned me. I needed all the support I could get, and I don't think I would have survived with out such support. If the forums were separated and I posted in therapy trauma forum (which actually they did have their own group at one point), I probably wouldn't have been encouraged to try therapy again which is the very thing that helped heal me. Maybe that's one of the reasons I can understand both sides?

[ArtleyWilkins]

I think the issue with the Romantic Feelings Toward Therapist forum was that it was designed, if I remember right, for matters particularly of erotic transference that were both highly triggering to some members and also met often with debate rather than support. By having a separate forum, it created a more delineated forum and has seemed to work well since its creation for the most part. (I think many have felt the title of the forum is questionable, but the members have found how to best use it.)

I see this possible sub-forum for therapy harm as perhaps working similarly as a way to respect those who really do need a safe place where they can find support without it becoming debate.

[MoxieDoxie]

I asked for a sub forum for Transference and got blown off.

[unaluna]

Its kind of on a continuum, or bell curve isnt it?

Romantic issues subforum is at one end, where the relationship is pretty exclusively one on one romantic, and now we are, or soon i hope we will be, sleeping together. Its not about doing therapy per se? Its more about eroticized attachment, past or present.

In therapy trauma / abuse, the posts are usually about how therapy is as a WHOLE, as a SYSTEM, not so much about individual cases. Its not me against ONE therapist, its me against ALL, or two, or however many therapists, and im never going to therapy again. On this website, trauma is not about a CURRENT client - therapist situation, its usually a past one.

Also, people who have been traumatized by past experiences and who dont wish to seek further therapy?

Then there is present therapy, the middle of the bell curve. Of course, where the dividing lines are up for debate. At the extreme ends, its clearer.