Are most psychologists incompetents?

[Raphael]

Hello,

I start seeing a new psychologist for several months. I want to mention that it's not the first time I try, but the third. I also created a subject on actualized.org because I was unhappy with my previous experience

However, I am disappointed again with my experience. So here are some questions I want to ask you:

• Do you think that it's normal to be frequently late (like 30 minutes to 1 hour)?
• Do you think it's normal that in every session a psychologist asks the same questions asked in the previous one?
• Do you think normal saying she doesn't like the manner of a patient?
• Do think normal that when I tell her I don't like my job she says that I need to get more experience to get another one where I told her that I am working on my own personal business?
• Do you think normal that a psychologist doesn't give any exercise to a patient?

From my perspective, she is negligent and doesn't seem to believe in my ability to make things happen nor consider my values, but rather want me to live like she considers to be "normal" and "healthy".

So, are most psychologist incompetent? For me, having a degree doesn't matter so much but being open-minded, comprehensive, compassionate, with the aim to help someone to achieve its goals and helping to understand and correct mistakes (real ones, not ones based on cultural or any kind of conditioning) should be part of the core values of a psychologist.

Generally speaking on which aspects a psychologist could really help?

This is obvious to me that speaking of enlightenment and the nature of reality is useless with most of them. However, things like relationships should be ok.

[Epiphany_Inspired]

@Raphael From my personal experience, sometimes they are crucial life savers, other times they are like a wet blanket...(I saw some of them to "prove I was sane" lol...after truck ran me over/ accident... , and I tried to get help for myself & for my ex when we were separating, etc), plus, I've heard from friends that have mental illness or trauma that it can be a total mix....

so, many of these professionals are coming from trauma....they have a real desire to help, because of what they've been through....yet because they still have not resolved their own issues.... their current personal lives are often fucked up....they are often far too neurotic themselves and should not be in the profession....

others are power trippers and take up the calling for superiority and control....

then, there are amazing ones with profound insights and incredible intuition.....

also, there are diligent intellectuals that could deduce the root cause of issues with brilliant detective work.... 

some are next level gurus.... some are just materialist zombie dumbasses....

just like every profession that exists....just like every human that exists...it's impossible to generalize or stereotype in that way  

Your personal experience sounds like you were open-minded enough to try this a few times, I have no idea what the technique used by your psychologist is intended to accomplish, or why you wouldn't have "homework"...I am not familiar enough with the profession or it's styles... I suppose you need to discern if you need this help, if there are preferable alternatives, etc.... I'm stoked you want to move forward  

[Sri McDonald Trump Maharaj]

I've talked to three therapists. I'm very grateful for the first one but the two others where really weird. 

[Rilles]

Youll have to see many to see which ones suit you, just like with regular people, you cant expect a perfect match just because its their job.

[Erlend K]

I have seen two therapists, and my girlfriend has seen one. Our experience has been very positive. To answer your questions:

Do you think that it's normal to be frequently late (like 30 minutes to 1 hour)?

No. This is unacceptable. I have never heard of a therapist doing this. I think you should confront her about this. 

Do you think it's normal that in every session a psychologist asks the same questions asked in the previous one?

It can be. Some questions like how your symptoms have been since your last session should be repeated each time. Also if she intuits that you are holding back/blocking something important, it could make sense to keep asking about it. 

Do you think normal saying she doesn't like the manner of a patient?

Not sure if it's normal, but it can be okey. It depends on the context and how she said it. Part of what makes therapy effective is by offering an arena where none of the normal norms of society apply, and both patient and therapist can be completely open and honest. If she becomes aware of disliking your manners and communicate this to you, then your next step should be to pay attention to what feelings, fantacies, memories etc this triggers in you and try your best to articulate these. Then she can help you explore and understand these. 

Do think normal that when I tell her I don't like my job she says that I need to get more experience to get another one where I told her that I am working on my own personal business?

It might be. What kind of business are you working on? Part of her job is to force her patient to confront the hard realities of his life, making it harder to hide behind unrealistic fantacies. 

Do you think normal that a psychologist doesn't give any exercise to a patient?

Yes. This depends on your symptoms. A lot of psychriatric patients primarily need an arena where they can get help figuring out their shit. If you want something like cbt exercises, you can just google these.

[Raphael]

@Erlend K Some of your answers are pretty enlightening, thank you

6 hours ago, Erlend K said:

Do you think it's normal that in every session a psychologist asks the same questions asked in the previous one?

It can be. Some questions like how your symptoms have been since your last session should be repeated each time. Also if she intuits that you are holding back/blocking something important, it could make sense to keep asking about it.

 

A lot of these question where facts on my life like "Do you do sport? What sport?". She asked questions like that several times, took note, and then took note again. Or questions like "You never go out? Go to cinemas? To parties?" in multiple consecutive sessions

6 hours ago, Erlend K said:

Do you think normal saying she doesn't like the manner of a patient?

Not sure if it's normal, but it can be okey. It depends on the context and how she said it. Part of what makes therapy effective is by offering an arena where none of the normal norms of society apply, and both patient and therapist can be completely open and honest. If she becomes aware of disliking your manners and communicate this to you, then your next step should be to pay attention to what feelings, fantacies, memories etc this triggers in you and try your best to articulate these. Then she can help you explore and understand these.

2

It was not about me, but about another person.

6 hours ago, Erlend K said:

Do think normal that when I tell her I don't like my job she says that I need to get more experience to get another one where I told her that I am working on my own personal business?

It might be. What kind of business are you working on? Part of her job is to force her patient to confront the hard realities of his life, making it harder to hide behind unrealistic fantacies.

1

A web application. I am currently working as a programmer, I started programming on my own at the age of 15. So, I am pretty confident that I can build something. However, I still lack of experience in the marketing fields

-------------------------------------

She also sometimes contradict herself.

[Faceless]

Are most psychologists incompetents?

Seeking psychological order through an authority only creates further disorder. 

If one learns about themselves this is realized. 

Its like being sold your own watch. Hehe

 

 

[Martin123]

@Raphael Hey man, Im not gonna answer the question of competence, I will just say that you have no reason to put up with a behavior that is in any way disrespectful to you. Whether they are a professional or not, the way they treat you should always be with respect and self-responsibility, so Id encourage you to seek a more respectful relationship.

[Moreira]

Yes they are incompetents. They try to make you what your dont want to do. And of couse you wont do it. 

[Raphael]

@Moreira  This is relative, sometimes doing this is needed

[d0ornokey]

get a good life coach. 100x better. because they are deeply into personal development

[Guest Quanty]

Yes.

 

[Prabhaker]

On 5/26/2018 at 0:16 PM, Raphael said:

So, are most psychologist incompetent?

In 1899 Sigmund Freud got a new telephone number: 14362. He was 43 at the time, and he was profoundly disturbed by the digits in the new number. He believed they signified that he would die at age 61 (note the one and six surrounding the 43) or, at best, at age 62 (the last two digits in the number). He clung, painfully, to this bizarre belief for many years. Presumably he was forced to revise his estimate on his 63rd birthday, but he was haunted by other superstitions until the day he died—by assisted suicide, no less—at the ripe old age of 83.

That's just for starters. Freud also had frequent blackouts. He refused to quit smoking even after 30 operations to correct the extensive damage he suffered from cancer of the jaw. He was a self-proclaimed neurotic. He suffered from a mild form of agoraphobia. And, for a time, he had a serious cocaine problem. So much for the father of psychoanalysis.

Mental health professionals are, in general, a fairly crazy lot, at least as troubled as the general population. 

[Erlend K]

16 hours ago, Moreira said:

Yes they are incompetents. They try to make you what your dont want to do. And of couse you wont do it. 

Some therapists do this, others don't. If you are someone seeking therapy for a mental issue there are very likely certain benefitial lifestyle changes you are resisting, and getting a gentile push towards them can be exactly what you need.

@Prabhaker, most of Freud's theories are not taken seriously by modern psychology. His methodology (psychoanalytic/psychodynamic therapy) is actually an effective treatment for some psychiatric patients, so it is still used clinically, but even those who use his methods mostly reject Freuds theories about why the psychoanalytical/psychodynamic methodology works.

It is easy to find anecdotal evidence of bad/nutty therapists. Instead of getting caught up by these,one should look at what is generally true - Those who seek therapy for mental disorders have, on average, higher rates of remission and lower rates of relapse than those who find some alternative means of dealing with their disorders.

For the question about therapy vs life coaching: These approaches tend to have different aims and time tables, and are appropriate for different people. A slight overgeneralization is: Therapists are generally interested in doing long-term insight-oriented work with a client. Life coaches role is mostly in motivating a client, helping him achieve demonstrable change and results asap. 

 

[Raphael]

@Moreira @Quanty Could you please elaborate?

[Highest]

They are not necessarily incompetents, but they don't know themselves. As most deny the existence of the soul, they remain trapped in their ignorance. Schizophrenics are seen as insane, when in fact they have just awaken. That's stuff they can't understand because they deny the spiritual realm altogether, but true growth can only happen spiritually.

[Erlend K]

1 hour ago, Highest said:

Schizophrenics are seen as insane, when in fact they have just awaken. That's stuff they can't understand because they deny the spiritual realm altogether, but true growth can only happen spiritually

Typical symptoms of schizophrenia include trouble focusing/ paying attention and poor working memory. This is the polar opposite of what you see in true spiritualy development. What makes you believe schizophrenics are awakened? 

[Faceless]

6 hours ago, Highest said:

That's stuff they can't understand because they deny the spiritual realm altogether, but true growth can only happen spiritually.

Doesn't schizophrenia imply fragmentation? 

If there is fragmentation there is only self deception, deilusion, contradiction. 

[Faceless]

4 hours ago, Erlend K said:

Typical symptoms of schizophrenia include trouble focusing/ paying attention and poor working memory. This is the polar opposite of what you see in true spiritualy development. What makes you believe schizophrenics are awakened? 

Wouldn’t you say spritual development implies duality/fragmentation. 

 

[Erlend K]

9 minutes ago, Faceless said:

Wouldn’t you say spritual development implies duality/fragmentation. 

I'm not sure if I understand your question. I would say that spiritual development implies increased cohesion/unity among our fragmented, competing mental sub-systems. This manifests (at least in the Buddhist path) as increased equanimity, mindfulnes and concentration. On the other hand sertain intermittant stages of the journey, like the duka nanas, involves increased suffering and weakend mindfulness. I havn't experienced this myself, but the first hand descriptions I have heard sounds nothing like schizophrenia. 

Complete unification of all mental systems would be Samadhi, wich ends/pauses of the internal struggle among these competing systems.