Very Bad Therapy

Therapist defensiveness is a recurring theme in stories of bad therapy. In this week's episode, Suzanne shares her experience with a therapist whose defensiveness was expressed in gratuitous displays of power and dismissive remarks. Plus, Dr. Nathan Castle rejoins the show to explore the topics of defensiveness, radical acceptance of clients, and the importance of transparency. Thank you for liste...

This week's story from Ashley has all the markings of bad family therapy. But did the interventions work? Ashley shares her experience as a teenager in crisis being threatened with inpatient care and alarms on her door, and Angela Caldwell makes us question everything we know about what constitutes good therapy. Is it OK to trick clients if it leads to successful outcomes? Thank you for listening....

A satanic panic in the early 1980s culminated in the McMartin Preschool abuse trial, the then-longest and most expensive criminal trial in American history. The trial centered around 359 allegations of ritualistic satanic child abuse and concluded with zero convictions and a new understanding of the unreliability of recovered memories.  The satanic panic has subsided, but its indirect effects are...

This week's story from Alison is a throwback to high school and all of Carrie and Ben's greatest fears around teenage embarrassment. We discuss interventions that are better left unsaid (telling an underage client to share romantic feelings with her softball coach) and others that have questionable validity (House-Tree-Person and Rorschach tests). Plus, what does modern science have to say about I...

Scott Miller and Daryl Chow return to the podcast to discuss their new book, Better Results: Using Deliberate Practice to Improve Therapeutic Effectiveness.  Topics include the importance of targeting individual strengths and deficits in a system of learning, how to get out of the performance zone, the significance of a coach, and ideas for changing the ways in which psychotherapy is taught. VBT i...

What should therapists know about working with individuals with disabilities? In this week's episode, Joy Wolf joins us to share her personal story about two therapists who responded to her disability in very different yet similarly problematic ways. We also discuss the impact of privilege, therapist uncertainty, and the limitations in how we are trained to work with clients with disabilities. Tha...

An urgent conversation about the role of therapists in doing the most public good during the coronavirus outbreak. Pat Wiita, MD and Farah Zerehi, MS explore the science, needed actions, and social justice implications of the pandemic, and Ben Caldwell, PsyD discusses what you need to know about shifting your practice to telehealth services. Please share this episode anywhere you feel it might mak...

This week's captivating story from Paloma brings together themes of postpartum depression and therapist specialization. Paloma offers insight into the harmful impact of societal narratives about motherhood and Curt Widhalm rejoins the podcast to explain what specialization actually means – and when it's just a marketing tool with dangerous consequences. Thank you for listening. Support the show by...

Philip Zimbardo rode the impact of the Stanford Prison Experiment to international renown. Perhaps he forgot to mention that his famous research was more performance art than psychological experiment. In our eighth of twelve history episodes, we look at the common narratives and impact of the SPE, and then consider recently uncovered evidence to the contrary. Plus, Carrie makes sense of Zimbardo's...

This week's story from Farah touches on many common themes of bad therapy: disempowerment, unsolicited advice, misrepresenting qualifications, and more. We explore how early-career therapists can be transparent about their lack of experience while still creating client buy-in, what research suggests about giving advice to clients, and the importance of feedback. Plus, Carrie reflects on the gender...

Today's guest Danny shares his outrageous experience of being told to urinate in a cup so his therapist could test if he was really gay. And that's just the beginning of the story. We also speak with Dr. Joe Kort to explore best practices for working with the LGBTQ+ community, the need for humility and curiosity in a time of rapidly changing relationships to identity, and the diagnoses that stigma...

Today's guest Kat shares her experience with a therapist who was unnecessarily cruel in her approach to treatment. In trying to make sense of this behavior, Carrie and Ben consider the research on how and when therapeutic relationships get fractured as a result of divergent interpretations of the same significant events in therapy. Thank you for listening. Support the show by becoming a monthly su...

In 1964, Dr. Everett Shostrom had a brilliant idea: record short videos of the same person receiving therapy from three top psychologists. These videos are colloquially referred to as the Gloria tapes, and the story behind the therapy is astounding. Coercion, human ashtrays, lawsuits, Fritz Perls being a massive jerk, and more! This is episode seven in our monthly look at bad therapy through the d...

In the UK, anyone with $16 can become a certified psychotherapist and begin seeing clients immediately. If this sounds surprising, imagine how clients feel when they have a bad experience and realize their therapist is not governed by any regulatory body. BBC presenter Jordan Dunbar joins us to share his own stories of bad therapy and his surprising findings from investigating the lack of regulati...

In America, psychotherapist licensure requirements vary – often absurdly – from state to state. What does not vary is the need for periodic license renewal, an otherwise mundane fact that holds foreboding significance in our guest Dee's story. Join us for a surprisingly interesting exploration of licensure requirements and the consequences of practicing without authorization. Thank you for listeni...

The exploitation of uneven power and emotional vulnerability is, of course, not limited to the field of psychotherapy. Today's guest Megan shares her experience of very bad pastoral counseling, and we speak with the Reverend Meredith Harber to explore the nuances of Megan's story and what proper pastoral care looks like with a contemporary understanding of power dynamics, boundaries, and gender no...

The first Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-I) was published with the intention of creating standardized language for mental abnormalities. It was also basically a war department bulletin. The controversial compendium is responsible for many important contributions to the fields of psychiatry and psychotherapy, but it also legitimized new forms of oppression and stigmatiza...

Today's story from T is a cautionary tale about a therapist causing harm by blurring boundaries around texting, personal space, and self-disclosure. Carrie and Ben attempt to hold space for T's experience while seeking a middle ground in their differing perspectives about her therapist's behavior. One thing is certain: if a therapist has a sexual dream about a client, the therapeutic relationship...

The absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. In today's episode, the absence of bad therapy is indeed evidence of bad therapy as our guest Eric joins us to discuss the impact of showing up for multiple sessions only to discover that the therapist is nowhere to be found. Plus, we talk about therapists going to prison, cars exploding, and Ben unveils the six-word joke that will single-handedl...

Jon Hook, PhD student at Western Michigan University, is contributing to research on how the coding of session transcripts to determine therapist attachment styles can be used to facilitate better client outcomes. He joins us to discuss the significance of therapist attachment and shares his story as a client of two therapeutic alliances that were anything but securely attached. Show Notes: Suppor...

Do client fees impact therapy outcomes? How should therapists talk with their clients about money? Should mental health care be a basic human right? We have lots of questions and few answers as today's guest Arianne joins us to share her story of money tension in therapy. Plus, Carrie and Ben read listener mail, gripe about therapist Facebook groups, and debate the ethics of prioritizing income ma...

In the 1940s, a new ad campaign appeared on the silver screen to promote psychotherapy. Yes, the extant videos are as spectacular as you imagine. In this month's journey through the decades, Carrie and Ben break down archival footage to laugh, marvel, and look curiously at how the American public was sold on psychoanalysis. Now tell me about your mother. Show Notes: Support Very Bad Therapy on Pat...

Dr. Chris Hoff hosts The Radical Therapist podcast and YouTube channel. He joins us to discuss postmodern assumptions in therapy, how a strict focus on social justice can lead to familiar diagnostic pitfalls, and the importance of maintaining curiosity to combat confirmation bias. Plus, we explore the benefits of creating a culture where failure is valued and Chris shares his advice for early-care...

A small percentage of clients experience negative effects from therapy. Why is it so difficult for therapists to identify this phenomenon when reflecting on past or present work? Norwegian psychologist and author Jørgen A. Flor joins us to explore the myth of side-effect free therapy and discuss a moving story from today's guest Jamie about unambiguously harmful treatment. Show Notes: Support Very...

"If you say yes to this, we'll have to end our therapeutic relationship." The context of this quote is explained in this week's episode about therapist self-disclosure, dual relationships, and a much-deserved misconduct report. Seriously y'all, be aware of how your social and political identities have the potential to impact clients and don't burst through boundaries like the Kool-Aid Man. Even Wo...