[pachyderm]

Or that he or she is not right enough? Not doing something well enough to help you?

How many have therapists who really cannot take criticism?

[SalingerEsme]

Mine doesn't accept criticism. He thinks it is resistance. I try to say something hurt my feeling now and then, but I end up apologizing later to keep the peace. I can't imagine hi taking criticism from a patient .

Mine can. But right/wrong/critisms don't really play out like that with my T. We are very much a working team. We talk about everything.
T says something, It's up to me whether I find it to be true for me.
But just because it's not right in the moment, doesn't mean after reflection it remains wrong.
If I say I don't feel what T says is right, she's fine with that. She allows me to find my truth.
I don't think there's much to Critiscise. But yeah, she's fine when I protest or whatever. No dramas.

[DP_2017]

I see no point in it, he can suggest things but there is no law that says I have to do it or agree, so I just let him have his views, and go on with things.

[seeker33]

I sometimes tell her when I don't like something or don't agree. Usually she takes it well, sometimes tries to push despite my resistance, sometimes she denies saying something. So far we've always solved everything. Both of us are strong personalities but non-conflict types so yes... I feel free to say what I think. I personally consider those moments an important part of therapy.

[Ididitmyway]

It was not safe to do that with any of my therapists. At all. All of them would get defensive, each one in their own way, but they all did. This was the main reason that made me doubt the whole process. In any relationship, except may be employer-employee, if it's not safe to voice disagreements and to address problems, to me it's not a healthy relationship to be in, in therapy especially since it's supposed to be the safest place for people to speak their mind.

By the way, it's not that I am judging people for being sensitive to criticism. I think, we all are sensitive to criticism to some extend, some of us more some less. But, a relatively healthy person would still at least try to understand the problem and to see what can be done about it, if anything, instead of deflecting attention from the issue and pointing a finger to the person who raises concerns or voices disagreements. I detest when therapists use manipulative deflecting tactics by calling disagreements "resistance" and dismissing any concerns raised by clients thus implying that nothing that the client says can be based on something legitimate if it contradicts what therapist says or does. This is the ultimate gaslighting in my book, which I consider emotional abuse given the enormous inequity of power between a therapist and a client.

[MobiusPsyche]

Yes I find it safe to disagree or criticize. I like that I can practice disagreeing with my T because I can use those skills when disagreeing with other people in my life.

[Lemoncake]

I don't feel like I fully trust my T, but after rupture no.6 I feel like I can tell him when he is completely off the mark, his interpretation was pretty awful, that I felt he was being defensive,mean or hurtful and not necessarily care about holding back because it's going to hurt his feelings. An odd example but in my last session I told him that his shirt buttons being undone was distracting, and that he should be more profession (it was only 2, but the ET is really strong right now). xD The old me 17 months would have just kept quiet and I also did when he was late a few times. I think it really depends on how they handle it and if they're open and willing to change to meet your needs.

[ElectricManatee]

My T is a champ at taking criticism. I've never seen her get upset or defensive. Usually she asks a lot of questions and wants to know what I mean and how I feel. She hasn't made any giant mistakes, but she has hurt my feelings and she has said things that I found upsetting. One time she did make a small mistake and kind of dropped the ball on something, and when I got pretty angry, we spent time talking how I felt and why and then she apologized quite sincerely. I like that we can talk about anything, and her ability to take criticism helps me feel more comfortable to bring up whatever I want/need to talk about, even if it involves her.

[Fuzzybear]

It would tend to be interpreted as resistance (or other) .. so my answer is no to this question

[Echos Myron redux]

My T is great at this. I always tell him and he always tries to understand and put it right. He's proven himself safe time and time again. I have had a therapist with whom it wasn't safe. I had to leave him in the end.

[JaneTennison1]

Yes I tell her and it usually leads somewhere good. She can take it.

[ScarletPimpernel]

Mine accepts criticism. She also takes responsibility for her words and actions, and she apologizes when she's wrong.

[stopdog]

I don't how the woman could be unsafe as such. If a therapist could not handle criticism, I would fire them or they would quit. I would find it curious that a therapist would think themselves above criticism. That sort of arrogance would take them off of my list of acceptable ones to hire.

[Deejay14]

I have always felt free to disagree when I felt it was warranted. It usually led to a fruitful dicussion, but sometimes we agreed to disagree and move on.

[awkwardlyyours]

I don't find it unsafe -- I frequently have.

However, she doesn't usually take it well.

It bothers me that she doesn't but I soldier on nonetheless.

[TeaVicar?]

Yes, I do it quite a bit at the moment because I don't feel that therapy with him has been working very well over (at least) the last year. His responses are varied, if it's an obvious f-up on his part, he will apologise. Sometimes he's quite defensive. A lot of the time he interprets my complaints as being about me and my past, rather than being about him (deflective). He says I am angry and he's right about that.

[ChickenNoodleSoup]

I can always criticize. He has never reacted negatively to it. He might not always agree with what I say and sometimes tell me his point of view and why he did/said a thing. But he's always open to hear what I have to say. He stresses that we are a team, we both contribute and we can talk about things that bug us or are not working whenever we feel the need to (especially when I feel the need to).

[SummerTime12]

I feel comfortable telling him when I disagree or need something different from him. I’m not normally one stir anything up, but he’s always telling me that I don’t have to agree with him and asking me if there are any areas where he’s letting me down. So that helps.

[mindmechanic]

I find it safe to tell the therapist if I disagree with something that she said or if I think it's wrong. Good therapists should be open to such feedback, and also keep an open mind. Sometimes it's resistance; sometimes such feedback is insightful and therapists have to tweak their working hypothesis or understanding about their patients.

[junkDNA]

my t has never been defensive

[CantExplain]

I never had any problem telling anyone they were wrong.

[Anne2.0]

I grew up being afraid of telling people they were wrong, and in my adult life have sometimes been too harsh in telling people what I really think. But I could not do T or have any serious intimacy with anyone without being able to. It's not safe to NOT be able say you are wrong.

[AllHeart]

My t encourages me to criticize her. More like tell her if she does something I don't like, agree with, or need something to be different. She knows she makes mistakes and isn't right about everything. She makes changes accordingly. It's safe.

If I criticized my ex-t, she would take it fine in the moment and then lash out at me over it later. Turns out that's what alcoholic narcissists do.

My first T was unable to take any criticism that cut into difficult aspects of his personality, probably his core issues. Not just from me as a client but I saw him acting in very similar ways with people who challenged him on social media. Defensive, deflecting, sometimes mean and rejecting. He was very different with feedback that did not get too personal toward him. Second T was pretty good at it but I did not present very serious criticisms to him. He was not one I would describe as self reflective in response to criticism though.