[mylifeart]

• do you guys think therapist get on here and read this stuff??

• if your therapist new you posted on here do you think he/she would get on here and read it??

[mandazzle]

I know of a few members that are psychologists but they post for themselves. I'm sure others just read the articles.

If my T knew I posted here I would pray she wouldn't read my posts, that would be just rude. She knows I post on an online forum but I didn't give her any details just in case.

[LadyShadow]

I don't know if my therapist would read what I post. I am sure he would be interested to see. He knows I post on an online forum but he respects my privacy. He even knows the name of the site.

He is way too busy to look through an online forum, but I am sure other therapists and psychologists use this site for research.

[HealingTimes]

I think that a few do, as i have seen a few members on here say that their T's have.
I feel kind of 'safe' here, as it's an American site, so i like to think that English T's wont bother....hmmm, then again, i'm English and I bother??

[WikidPissah]

Therapists may come on here, but as said it is for themselves. A T doesn't have the time or energy to spend hours on here trying to find a client and investigate what they write. It is generally the client that gets obsessed with the T, not the other way around. Your T may think of you occasionally between sessions, but they aren't going to put unpaid time into researching you.

[mylifeart]

just interested to see what you guys thought!

I told my therapist about this forum.
I wrote on another forum in the past, and my therapist did read it she told me she did.

so you never know... my therapist did ask me for the name of the site I wouldn't tell her for the longest time... finally did cuz she asked about this one as well.. so yeah, I know there are many that wouldn't waste there time doing so... but I guess some want to study or understand there patients behavior and emotions on the world outside of therapy.. cuz some of us may not act the same way in therapy as we do in our life outside of it.

[wotchermuggle]

Unless you're involved in some type of court case involving your T, I doubt any T has the time to be searching on here.

[adam_k]

I would think your T would value your privacy, unless you told them it was okay, or you would like them to read your posts.

[mylifeart]

well I don't have to give her permission to read this its a public forum..
I told her about the last forum, and gave her the name of it.. and she told me that she read it and found it interesting. she never asked to read and I never asked her too. both my last t and my t had read where I posted on my last forum... relevant to my treatment, I guess..

a lot of therapist where I come from seem to find time to do these things.. my last t has an awful lot of time to waste to be messaging me on fb. and changing her profile pic everytime she sends me a message.

[stopdog]

I don't believe most therapists are all that busy, but I don't think they really care enough to try to find clients on anonymous forums. I think they do/have watched them/been told they do google type searches on clients just like clients do searches on them.

[FeelTheBurn]

The only reason I can think of why a therapist would visit these forums would be for the general purpose of trying to understand the process from a client's point of view.

While I do believe that most therapists care about most of their clients, it seems a far stretch that any of them would be consumed enough about a client that they would wander these boards looking for him. Remember, they can find out pretty much anything about a client just by asking; we're the ones who get obsessed with penetrating that one-way wall in order to satisfy our curiosity and soothe the discomfort of that unequal relationship.

[healed84]

I told my T that I post here, he said oh wdyt about it? He had wondered about referring people to different support forums for MI.. He knows of Psych central from their articles, etc.. but at that point hadn't been on the message board part of it. I wouldn't be surprised if my t has look around here, but I doubt he spent his time looking for me.

[pbutton]

I have given mine printouts of posts I've made here. So if he really wanted, he could google specific phrases and find me. I'm sure he wouldn't have any desire to do that. He hears enough about my life every week, no need to seek it out in his free time.

I have discussed this forum with my T. My guess it that he would not read here for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is lack of time. He has a full practice, a family, does some volunteer work, has several good male friends he hangs out with, and he said he was trying to write another book.

[mandazzle]

I asked my T today if she knew this website was the one I post on, if she would go on and look for me. She said don't worry, I won't creep on you.

[Victoria'smom]

I told T my SN and the site. My SN and pic it's very easy to tell who I am. I doubt she comes on but if she did I'd never know.

Every time this question gets asked, people say, "my t just doesn't have the time". I don't think I buy this. I assume they have as much time as anyone else. They work full time (or less, it seems like lots of private t's only work part time) and may have families. I think most people on here have similar responsibilities. I can think of three or four t's who post openly on this forum and i'm sure there are many more who lurk.

I am a professional person, I work 50 or more hours a week and I find time to get online if i want. I also visit a very busy website forum for my profession which often has "clients" who post. I never wonder if my "clients" are posting. It's a big world and a huge Internet- what are the odds? Actually, I find it rather valuable to get the anonymous feedback that readers post. I bet t's feel the same about what clients say here.

[chumchum]

Originally Posted by HealingTimes

I think that a few do, as i have seen a few members on here say that their T's have.
I feel kind of 'safe' here, as it's an American site, so i like to think that English T's wont bother....hmmm, then again, i'm English and I bother??

I don't know why that made me laugh so hard!

[feralkittymom]

I think the time factor isn't really about finding the time, but rather, wanting to spend that time in professional concentration. Most people I know want to spend their truly free time in diversion. I know for sure that my T would never have spent what little time he had free after juggling a senior agency position, private practice hours, professional committees, consults and assessments, and court appearances, on a psych web-site--especially if he could have been on the golf course!

Originally Posted by feralkittymom

I think the time factor isn't really about finding the time, but rather, wanting to spend that time in professional concentration. Most people I know want to spend their truly free time in diversion. I know for sure that my T would never have spent what little time he had free after juggling a senior agency position, private practice hours, professional committees, consults and assessments, and court appearances, on a psych web-site--especially if he could have been on the golf course!

Completely agree. Mine would much rather go for a bike ride or cook a gourmet meal. He practices great self care and has strong boundaries about keeping work AT work as much as possible. I get that. I don't go home from school each evening and spend all evening on educational websites. Yuck! While some people eat, live, and breathe their work, most much prefer to do things unrelated to their jobs once they're home. Yes, sometimes I do have to take work home with me, but browsing educational forums isn't what I do when I'm working on work at home.

I'm a professional also, and I never visit websites or forums having to do with my profession, unless it's one only for other professionals, and I have a specific question.

[feralkittymom]

Yes--my research work is "work" that I need to do outside of my teaching committments, but as much as I enjoy it, it's not part of my "free time." I've never seen anything on any part of PC that would qualify as professional education for someone already a professional: so why spend time here?

[stopdog]

I think it would be useful for therapists to read sites like this one. I doubt most of them do, but I can certainly see the point in them dropping in and just glancing through from time to time. But I don't have as high of a regard for therapists as a group (or as individuals) as others here do and I do think it would be quite educational for them if they were willing to allow it to be.

[amandalouise]

I know many therapists that read mental health forums. many also are members...this site here is very popular with the mental health agencies in my location...I found out about it from my therapist and she found out about psych central through a seminar/workshop she attended in another state..

we live in a time of where people use computers/mental health websites for many things...their own self help/therapy/research/ looking for help for a family member or other special person in their lives..even college classes are recommending their students who are in career minded courses to become doctors/therapists/psychiatrists/....visit and join mental health websites..

my own medical doctor keeps a recommended website list on their public bulletin boards in their office....out of curiosity I checked to see if there were any sites on the list that I knew of and psych central was one of those recommended sites..

psych central offers so many different things for mental health professionals...information/research (I dont mean on the boards, in the tool bar at the top there is a page called research where students/treatment providers and others can find research information)...

psych central even has social groups and other areas here or linked to psych central for therapists and students going into the mental health field.

yup there are lots of therapists that read these boards and are part of being members of the various groups/forums/....that psych central has to offer..

my own therapist is a member here and does read the boards..we have many great conversations about topics and my posts/ her posts/ what we are finding on here that is helpful to us/our work/....