From Shocking To Absolutely Unhinged, Here Are 49 Reasons Why Folks Stopped Seeing Their Therapists

It’s a good thing that a lot of people are getting the help that they need. Studies show that more Americans with mental health needs have been getting talk therapy in recent years. In fact, it's the first time in decades that talk therapy has played a bigger role in mental health treatment than medications. However, looking at these stories, it can be truly traumatizing to get stuck with a bad therapist.

To better understand how this affects a patient's mental health, Bored Panda reached out to Eden Lobo, a counselor and psychology professor. Having seen her fair share of such unprofessionals, she has also witnessed the long-lasting impact they can have. She stressed that it can be incredibly disorienting and painful when a therapy experience goes south. 

“Sometimes, when a therapist lets clients down, their first instinct is often to turn that blame inward. People look at therapists as the ultimate authorities on mental health, so it is pretty easy to start gaslighting themselves. They might find themselves thinking that they are the problem, that they aren’t trying hard enough, or that their mind is simply too broken to be fixed,” our expert narrated. 

She believes that this feeling of being “un-helpable” is one of the heaviest burdens a bad therapist can leave patients with. She added that this obviously affects people, and the day-to-day impact usually shows up as an overwhelming sense of dread. Prof. Lobo pointed out that instead of looking at the weekly session as a release, it becomes a source of anxiety. 

Prof. Lobo also shared how some therapists cause more damage by pushing patients to dig deep into the trauma, even when they are not ready. Well, this can entirely destabilize the whole session when people are not given the tools to cope with it. In fact, this can also flare up their symptoms of anxiety or depression even more than when they started.

"It helps to realize that there is a big difference between a therapist who just isn't your style and one who is genuinely harmful. An ineffective therapist might just be checked out, staring at the clock, or forgetting your history, which makes you feel unimportant. But a truly toxic therapist will actively judge you, cross ethical boundaries, or make you feel small," she commented.

Our expert claimed that therapy requires a massive leap of faith, and when that trust is broken, it can make the entire profession feel unsafe. She believes that the thought of starting over, retelling your story to a stranger, and risking getting burned again can feel completely exhausting.

"If you are dealing with the aftermath of a bad experience, it is entirely valid to feel protective of yourself and hesitant to try again. It is important to remember that the problem wasn't your capacity to heal; it was that you were handed a broken tool," Prof. Lobo noted.

When we asked Prof. Lobo for advice on dealing with a bad therapist, she shared her precious thoughts. "Trust your gut and give yourself permission to leave such a practitioner immediately, especially if they are judgmental or unethical. If it's just a style mismatch and you feel safe, you can try speaking up, but walk away if they get defensive," she concluded.

Well, I don't know about you, but that was definitely eye-opening for me. Also, I am definitely glad that the netizens from this list dropped their therapists because some of them were truly unhinged. Have you ever experienced something similar? We would love to hear your stories, so feel free to jot them down in the comments below!