[H-H-H-H]

Another article about achieving good results in therapy: Counseling sessions: client responsibilities, tips, difficulties

An interesting commentary. My view is too many clients expect good results without committing to the hard work it takes.

What to you think?

[stopdog]

My view is far too many people blame the client when therapists and the industry in general is not clear about what constitutes work, often the different schools do not agree, and it far too easy for a therapist to blame the client (and for the client to accept such blame) when things go very awry. Therapists often fail to give explanation about what they are doing but just expect clients to allow it.
Therapists seem to act like they are like weather people - if there is weather - then they get to think they are right no matter how off their predictions are.

[Asiablue]

Originally Posted by stopdog

My view is far too many people blame the client when therapists and the industry in general is not clear about what constitutes work, often the different schools do not agree, and it far too easy for a therapist to blame the client (and for the client to accept such blame) when things go very awry. Therapists often fail to give explanation about what they are doing but just expect clients to allow it.
Therapists seem to act like they are like weather people - if there is weather - then they get to think they are right no matter how off their predictions are.

Amen, Sister!!

[Asiablue]

My view is that if a client is turning up week after week and paying the therapist then they must be getting something out of it. They wouldn't return otherwise. If a therapist doesn't like the stage a client is at ;which might be pre-contemplation ( thinking about thinking about changing.) then it's up to the therapist to manage that, they can always terminate a client if they don't want to work with a client who isn't ready to make changes.

If a client doesn't seem to be "working" in therapy then maybe the therapist and client are on different pages about what the goals actually are.

[Lauliza]

I think there are so many misconceptions about what counseling/therapy actually is that clients and their therapists are often not on the same page. Success takes an open mind and flexibility in both people and often times that's just not the case.

From what I've read on this board it does appear like many T's believe they are authority figures and believe that they have all the answers and know what is right for other people. This has not been my personal experience with therapy, but then I wouldn't click with that kind of T so maybe that's why. I see therapy as a collaborative experience where the client and T frequently go over goals as well as the client's satisfaction in treatment. Clear communication is important and I do think T's should be more upfront about what their approach is and make sure that it may not be effective.