Hey everybody!
Today I'm gonna talk about reasons why a therapist can't see you anymore.
Believe it or not there are many legal and ethical reasons a therapist may have
to stop seeing you and today I'm gonna talk about the six most common.
And the first reason is no commitment to treatment.
That can look like not showing up for your appointments, or not following through
with homework. We call that noncompliance, meaning, you're maybe not taking your
medication either, or you won't tell them how you're really doing.
I've honestly had clients lie to me about how they're doing and what's happening,
And until we have their spouse or parent come in to session with them I don't
realize they're really doing terribly and aren't able to follow through on anything.
and if there's no commitment to treatment, and you're not working with me,
I can't work harder than you and there- fore, I'm gonna have to stop seeing you
and the second reason is, there's no progress being made
now sure, in therapy there's gonna be periods of time where it's really
difficult and maybe we slide back, and we have a little bit of a relapse,
or we feel just kind of stuck because the thing we're working on is so hard
but what I mean by no progress is, even though we look into other treatment
options, referring you out for a different type of treatment, maybe that's EMDR,
maybe that's joining a group, whatever it is, we've tried these things
and there's still no progress and then we look into higher levels of care and maybe
that doesn't help either. Whatever it is, this could either be a sign that we need
a different therapist, a different type of treatment all together, or maybe we're
just not really ready to get better.
And the third reason is, that you need a higher level of care.
I've had clients who are suicidal and a danger to themselves and they need to be
hospitalized. I've had clients whose eating disorder is getting so bad that I
worry about their health and they might have a heart attack and so I have to refer
them to an actual treatment center, but at that point when a client of mine needs
more care than I can give, it's what we call "out of my scope of practice"
meaning that it's not ethically or really legally sound for me to continue seeing
you, and that's why I couldn't keep doing it.
And the fourth reason is if I feel threatened.
this hasn't happened to me very often, but there are many times in the hospital
setting or even in my private practice where someone has threatened me.
It could be cussing out your therapist, telling them you want to hurt them,
even lunging at them. If I ever fear for my life, or worry about my own safety
I legally never have to see you again
and I know that when things change in therapy it can be really hard and we can
feel a lot of feelings, but there's a huge difference from you expressing that you're
angry and you're upset, and cussing out and scaring your therapist.
and so keep that in mind because if we feel threatened we can't see you anymore.
and the fifth reason is non payment.
and I know that sounds harsh, but this means that you haven't talked to your
therapist about this, and your therapist you maybe owe them let's say 600 bucks
let's say you haven't paid them in many months,
and you refuse to talk to them about it or go in to pay them.
And what this does is, it changes the relationship
it changes it from being a therapeutic, open, safe space to talk about things
to, having your therapist feel maybe, like a debt collector
and therefore, a lot of therapists will discontinue sessions
not make any more appointments with you until the debt is paid
that way the relationship can stay safe and warm and you
can actually do the work in therapy without it getting kind of icky
and the 6th and final reason why a therapist may have to stop seeing you
or not see you at all.
Is if they are seeing you in a couple, or in a family setting.
And a lot of therapists break this ethical boundary, but I am adamantly against it
and the reason that they can't see you if they're also seeing you as a couple
let's say you and your wife or you and your husband are also coming in
is because it can muddy the waters of that group setting
so, if they're seeing you individually and then they see you as a couple
the other person in your couple can feel like you're getting preferential treatment
and the therapist is gonna know more about you and cannot help you
and your partner equally as a couple. Because they already know all the
information from your individual sessions and it just creates this icky situation
where in the therapy land we call it "being the secret keeper"
and as a therapist, whenever we see multiple people, we aren't
"the secret keeper", if you tell us something we will share it with
the group.
And having that dynamic of individual sessions and couple
or family sessions, makes that impossible
and is a big no no!
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I hope you found that helpful, I know there's a lot of concerns and questions
about why a therapist may not be able to see you or may discontinue treatment
mainly it goes back to those legal and ethical boundaries and rules that we
have to follow. In order to keep it safe for you
And I know that I cannot mention everything, so if
there are other things that you know of, let us know in the comments
or what have you heard from your therapist?
Let's share and work together towards a healthy mind and a healthy body
and I will see you next time! Bye!