I read Dr Marie Adam’s article on ‘Therapists are human too’ with interest (Therapy Today, November, 2014). The article starts by asking whether counsellors in training pitch up for their therapy sessions without really ‘doing the work’. I’ve had the same thought: how many counsellors in training ‘do the work’ even on their courses? Do they turn up at their training institutes to merely tick the attendance sheet for the lecture, supervision group or experiential workshop, without really engaging? I remain sceptical how such individuals can demonstrate the reflective capacity necessary to work in the field of helping psychologically distressed clients, when they themselves, have not ‘done the work’. This raises another important question about the ethical and academic rigour of the respective training institutes allowing such individuals to progress through the prescribed training programmes.
The article goes on to state ‘so many of us are resistant to returning to therapy during hard times’. This may well be true, although I was unsure what data the author was basing this statement on. Was it the people she interviewed or was this her own experience of people known to her? Personally, I know of many therapists who are still in therapy post training or who have returned to personal therapy, be it in hard times or not, without the kind of resistance that the article refers to.
I learned a lot from the article such as the author’s explanation of the Johari Window, which was new to me, as well as the reasons why Carl Rogers became a therapist. However, I do wonder if the underlying assumption within the article was that the therapist is the expert in the relationship and that all therapeutic movement occurs through his or her direction. For instance, the article’s final paragraph alludes to the dangers of the therapist hiding behind a mask of mythical perfection. I, for one, do not believe that I, as therapist, am the sole orchestrating agent in the relationship nor do I subscribe to the fiction of the untroubled therapist. I believe that would be adopting a self-important position. I may be a skilled facilitator, as outlined by Egan,[1] indeed, I would hope so after four years of specialist professional training, but as Langs [2] articulates very well: the unconscious of the patient can often be very accurate about the unconscious of the therapist. Therefore, perhaps it is not surprising after all if our clients notice things in us and perhaps we need to acknowledge that we don’t have to be rigid poker faced therapists at all, but maybe just be ourselves and acknowledge our humanness.
[1] Egan, G. The Skilled Helper: A Problem-Management and Opportunity-Development Approach to Helping. Wadsworth Publishing Co Inc; 7th Revised edition edition ( 2001).
[2] Langs, R. The Psychotherapeutic Conspiracy. New York: Jason Aronson; 1982.