"You'll never be a therapist"

As I said, in my state, when someone is applying for a professional license, other people may report on that person's fitness to practice in that profession with impunity. It came up in our state in the legal profession. One attorney sent a report to the bar association regarding the fitness of someone to practice law. The person about whom the report was sent sued the attorney sending the report. Our highest court said that regulating boards have such a high interest in the fitness of professionals in such sensitive positions such as attorneys, doctors, therapists, etc., that persons making honest reports have immunity for making those reports regardless of how the information was acquired. The only possible action against the reporting person is for falseness of the information provided.

States can have different rules, however.

And your state is....?

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It doesn't matter what state it is really. I think you keep focussing on the wrong part of this situation.

So...I'm not allowed to be curious and learn about a new law?

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Have at it.

Yeah, I think we all have our comfort levels for how much personal information we share. Also, this is not a particularly new thing. The case is from the late 80s - early nineties. Obviously, you think I am wrong and since I have no dog in this fight I will just drop out of this now.

I think what's being addressed here is the distinction between run of the mill breaking confidentiality, and the pretty narrow conditions under which that is allowed without penalty; and the case of a professional subject to licensing, in which the conditions for breaking confidentiality may be far more lenient.

The bottom line is that you research the regulations in whatever state you are in or plan to be licensed in.

As far as threats, I don't remember specifics from your threads, but my impression was that your T had said to you more than once that she felt you were threatening to her.

Yea, so that never happened.

You are under the wrong impression.

This line of discussion does not apply to me.

My therapist never said anything about feeling threatened by me. I've never physically threatened my T. I do not live in a state where it's okay for a therapist to break confidentiality in order to prevent someone else from being licensed.

If you or mkac DO live in that state, well, then....okay?

Not sure what it has to do with my original post, though...if you're gonna say inflammatory things like

Let's try to be accurate about it.

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Okay, thanks.

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IRL, my memory is of the threads you were posting when she said something about believing you would slash her tires. There were several threads. But no, I don't remember specifics because it's your life, not mine. If it doesn't apply that's good.

IRL, this is true for most states and isn't likely to come up in your ethics class (it never did in mine) because it isn't something that comes up that often.

The way you're choosing to interact with her regarding your present treatment is pretty concerning, however. Honestly I think hiding such a large part of your life from her only to shove it in her face when you finish is more unhealthy than anything else you've written about up till now. This kind of behavior is something that could push her to be very concerned about how fit you are to become a T and is what I would try at all costs to focus on right now. I do not understand the concept of staying in therapy with someone who is toxic for the purpose of "working through it". Therapy is all about interpersonal relationships and how you handle your own is going to reflect how you will help others navigate theirs. Handling conflict well is crucial to being an effective therapist.

Except for the advice about becoming a life coach, I agree with your therapist on this topic. Many of us have encountered toxic, dishonest, and uncaring therapists. We don't need one more. I think the profession should be more tightly regulated than it is even now.

Even when she said that, it wasn't based on anything I had actually said, and do you see how even that isn't a threat of harm against a person?

I'm not planning to shove anything in her face. I'm not going to tell her at all. No one is expected to bring everything into the therapy room. I do not find discussions with her about school to be helpful, so I'm choosing not to discuss my education with her any more than I already have. I don't think that reflects in any way on my suitability as a therapist. It's just me protecting myself.

I discuss my education with my other mental health providers and with my Professors who are also clinicians. None of them has expressed any opinion about the necessity that I tell my primary therapist that I'm in school, citing the fear that if I don't I'll become a terrible therapist who is so bad I'll need to be reported bc I'm at risk of threatening physical harm to my clients.

So I think we'll have to agree to disagree about what I am required to tell my therapist in order to be mentally sound.

You've taken this thread so far from the original concern, which was getting work with a criminal record. Not if I should tell about being in school, not if Tarasoff reporting applies to my therapist reporting me to licensing based on my being a vague physical threat to my future clients.

If therapists have reported their clients in your state, okay. But to my knowledge it has not happened here, and the entire supposition is ridiculous as it's almost no chance of happening in my situation. But your concerns are duly noted.

Tarasoff applies to destruction of property as well as harm to others, just to be clear.

Many schools require that candidates be in personal therapy at the time that they are in practicums and are also required to note whether they use their personal therapy for the inevitable issues that come up usually as countertransference when seeing clients. Evaluations by supervisors often have areas that assess whether the student is using personal therapy to improve clinical effectiveness. And most if not all schools evaluate not only academic performance but behavioral and interpersonal aspects of candidates. Again just to be clear on what is the case.

In a way you are right that it is your choice. But in a way you are also wrong because there are ethical principles involved and that means that other people are involved, people who in most ways outweigh you and your preferences.

I've got a lot of volunteering under my belt already. I'm intending to start up again soon working with veterans.

and again, it wasnt based on ANYTHING I HAD ACTUALLY SAID. This started out as a joke on her part, she was being sarcastic. It eventually just got out of hand.

I didn't say anything about you or your situation. You made a comment about how slashing tires was not a threat to others so implied that it was not covered by Tarasoff, which is incorrect.

In some jurisdictions, property is covered under Tarasoff, in others it is not.

This I am happy to hear. My previously expressed concern was that you might be actively misleading her. That would be the case if you were, for example, discussing with her whether or not you should apply to grad school when you were in fact already in grad school.

I still have serious doubts about her suitability as a therapist for you, and I continue to support your plan of moving on from her.

Finally, I think your point about licensing is that you see her as barred from speaking at any licensing tribunal by her obligation to maintain confidentiality. Whatever negative opinions she may have about your suitability as a T apparently derive from sessions that are protected by confidentiality, absent acute and imminent lethality concerns.

IRL-any ideas yet as to if/what might be being reenacted here?

Maybe people are picking up on themes of destruction, and that could be related to some of the reactions here.

I have self-destructive behaviors but am conscious of them.

There's also destruction of the therapy relationship, which can be a re-enactment in therapy.

Nowhere did I say that it's required of students to tell a T that you are in school. I said it was concerning that you are not telling a T about such a big part of your life. It's only concerning because it's a purposeful omission, not something minor that you just happen to forget when you see her. I agree that there are times when our therapists are not able to make assessments about whether you are fit to be a T or or another professional (one reason, besides the ethical ones, that they cannot write recommendations for clients). I think it's wise to continue to see your school advisors and counselors regarding your career.

I apologize for derailing your thread with the topic of reporting and immunity. Since you did debate the validity of it however, I did want to point out that it is not some obscure law. It's not new at all and is likely applicable to you and everyone else preparing to enter the mental health or other fields that require licensing. Its not usually a concern for most people and therefore not worth debating. It is however, legit.

When we discuss school, it is mainly about which degree would be best (which I still haven't decided bc I may want to switch to social work, just bc I can still be a therapist, but also many other things as well in the event therapy isn't my cup of tea and my money spent on degree isn't wasted.)

No...my point is that even if ethically/legally she COULD do this, she would never even consider doing it. filing a report with the board to prevent my being licensed.... I believe she would take the stance that it isn't any of her business, it's the boards business and they will license me if they see fit, not license me if they don't.

Even if I filed a complaint against her I still couldn't see her doing something like this in retaliation. I'm not saying it couldn't happen, bc anything is possible, just that the odds are slim to none.

But after 2.75 years with her, she maintains that she doesn't know me very well, that I'm very private. So all she has to report on is what I've reported, my diagnosis, and our relationship. Her fighting with me. While I have issues, I've never hurt anyone.

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It'll be discussed at my next ethics class.

As this thread got sidetracked, you never have addressed this concern. Several of us voiced it. Are you going to terminate with this therapist and really work on addressing your own issues so that you can provide a healthy therapy environment for your own clients? From my perspective, that is the real concern about your future effectiveness as a therapist. The longer you stay enmeshed in this dysfunction with this therapist, the longer it is going to take to recover from the damage this therapy relationship has done, much less work on your own issues completely unrelated to this current therapy mess. What is your plan?

I'm already seeing another provider and have been since November. I just am also seeing old T. Eventually I'll end with her, but I don't have a timeline just yet.