Tuesday 16 December 2014

By Lucia Weeks





People who have suffered psychological abuse and trauma would often go to psychotherapists in order to open up to these professionals and to also receive treatment. However, even though many people would entrust their mental health to psychotherapists, there are actually some psychotherapists who would make things worse. Alarmingly, there are a lot of cases of emotional abuse by a psychotherapist even if the therapist is not aware of it.



Now one of the most common ways for patients to be emotionally abused by their therapists is for their therapists to act unprofessional. Now according to a certain code of ethics that therapists would follow, there is a strict rule about professionalism. In no circumstances should a therapist exhibit behavior that is unprofessional.



Now there is a very common problem among therapists that they would get extremely close to their patients. Sometimes this would actually lead to the point wherein they would talk too comfortably to their patients without realizing that the line has been crossed. What many therapists do not know is that instead of making the condition of the patients better, it would get worse.



The thing about having this kind of close relationship is that the psychotherapist might actually open up things to the patient that should not be opened up. If he or she is mentally unstable, any trigger might just spark something in his or her mind which will create a negative effect. It is for this reason that therapists are to just concentrate on treatment and not trying to make friends or trying to get close.



Another way to emotionally abuse patients would be to be too tactless toward them. Now there is a fine line between being tactless and being professional. As a therapist, one should never say things that may sound cold toward a patient because it will just make the patient numb and not want to open up to the therapist.



Now as a therapist, one has to be empathetic toward the patient as he has to know what the patient is going through. From there, he can use the concepts that he has learned in order to form a diagnosis. Being tactless and appearing cold will only drive patients away as they will only respond to people who understand them.



Now some of the bad effects of this phenomenon would be worsening of the condition of a patient. If the patient is suffering from trauma, his fear of people might worsen and he might just clam up. Depression is also something that may stem up from this kind of situation.



So as one can see, it is very important that a therapist would always take note of his behavior with patients. Now do take note that being a therapist is not just about the money. It is about helping people with their emotional problems so that they can get better. Patients are putting their mental health in the hands of the therapist and it is the job of the therapist to handle that trust with care and give the proper treatment.









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