WHEN TO FIRE YOUR THERAPIST
- You are making no significant progress over time. If you have seen your therapist 10 to 15 times and you feel like you are making no progress, it may be time to consider firing your therapist.
- Your therapist likes to talk more about themselves than to listen to you. Your therapist shares many intimate details of their own life. They talk about their own problems.
- You consistently feel uncomfortable with your therapist. Some discomfort is normal in any good therapy, but if you feel uncomfortable most or all the time, that's a sign that something is wrong.
- Your therapist seems to apply the same treatment or theory to all problems, and never changes course even when it's not working.
- Your therapist seems distant and judgemental, and condescending towards you. You feel like your therapist doesn't like or respect you.
- Your therapist gives you lots of advice and tells you how to run your life, instead of helping you explore the options.
- Your therapist falls asleep during sessions.
- Your therapist is flaky, cancelling sessions at the last minute, changing session times frequently, showing up late, or going way over your allotted time.
- Your therapist touches you (other than a handshake), especially if this touch feels in any way sexual or seductive.
- If any of these things are occurring then you may want to seek a second opinion from another, objective psychologist.