Clients Harmed By Therapy
Added 2026-02-04 12:00:13 +0000 UTC
Comments
Tricky subject for sure. I can see why Dr Honda wants careful consideration about how this is delivered to an audience because you don’t want to create stigma to an already stigmatized field. I am a nurse so I know how he feels. When a nurse harms a patient, especially intentionally, I always feel disgusted by their actions but also somewhat selfishly concerned that they are now creating a bad rep for all of us, well meaning nurses. We don’t want people to see therapists as poorly trained, harmful, or untrustworthy because at the end of the day we need people in therapy with GOOD therapists. While I sympathize with Jen so so much, for her awful experiences, I was a little concerned about her comment of “I do not care to make caveats”. I have been a victim before of abuse, so I understand it’s not the victim’s responsibility to protect their abusers. If she never wants to join therapy again & wants to continue to advocate for fellow survivors, this is so brave & important. But I would maybe seek guidance from multiple therapists or other non harmed patients to see how awareness can be raised, without insulting an entire professional who are so needed. I don’t mean for this to come across as rude towards her though, this is just my two cents.
meghan leahy
2026-02-12 20:26:27 +0000 UTCI’m noticing I’m having a reaction to the title of this episode… The two guests on the podcast have been horribly abused by awful therapists, not by therapy. Reading the title, I initially thought it would be about how a particular therapeutic approach (see the more recent stories about IFS) might not have been appropriate for a particular client etc… I don’t mean to take away from the point of the episode though
MB
2026-02-09 04:19:06 +0000 UTCI know I should finish listening to the entire thing before I comment, but... Am I way off base here? Jennifer's story sounds absolutely HORRIFIC, and Dr. Honda is all like, "Well, you know... maybe the therapist would give us all the facts... if we had hours and hours..." I'll keep listening. I might end up editing this comment. I just needed verbalize that listening to Jennifer's story, my skin wants to crawl all the way off my bones and find a place to hide. *edit* OK, it got sorted. I feel better now. Also, I really love how Dr. Honda is so quick to change gears when he gets more information. I wish that was a more common trait in people.
DuckHouse
2026-02-07 17:38:44 +0000 UTCThanks for the angry rant, it feels humbling and validating
MHAJ
2026-02-07 05:17:57 +0000 UTCMy former therapist had some unethical practices that negatively impacted our family. Eventually, our entire family was at her practice. She would share information from sessions with other family members. She also shared information from sessions with clients outside of our family (a friend of my younger sister who was also at her practice). She started providing therapy to our father, without our knowledge (I didn't find out before leaving her practice). She was already providing therapy to my sisters and I. We would frequently talk about our father in sessions. She started to defend his behavior when I would try to discuss issues with him. She is a mandated reporter and never reported the sexual abuse my sister experienced from a family member to CPS after it was disclosed. Our father would demand information about what was said in sessions with my sister, which the therapist would share with him. I tried to ask about the possibility of having BPD a couple of times. I genuinely believe that I have traits and wanted to focus therapy around it. She became aggressive the second time I tried asking about it. The rest of the session was her venting frustration towards me while I was trying to explain myself. When I emailed her with concern about this interaction (I was considering terminating with her), she told me that I couldn't email her and that we would need to discuss in another session. When she suggested that I have traits of OCD, she refused to treat me for OCD unless I was medicated. She told me medication was the only treatment option for OCD, which is not accurate. She was very pushy about me being on medication. I have a medical condition that causes a massive sensitivity to a number of medications and other triggers, and I explained this to her multiple times. She would often be distracted or moody in our sessions. She would make statements like "You're one of my easy clients" and she would decrease how often I saw her. I felt dismissed and unimportant, which is what I frequently feel with my family. Towards the end, it felt as if she didn't want me as a client anymore. This experience added to the betrayal that I had experienced in childhood and adulthood. She protected and defended our father. I already have a history of family and others protecting or making excuses for my abusive and neglectful parents. While I was not abused like the women who are bravely sharing their stories, the experience with this therapist felt very harmful to me.
Courtney 0531
2026-02-05 05:31:54 +0000 UTCAlthough not abused by a therapist, I was harmed by therapy. My therapist and I never had any issues, and I was only there for anxiety (she specifically said that’s all I seemed to have going on!). One day my therapist didn’t show up for an appointment, and she just never spoke to me again despite me reaching out multiple times and her continuing to take on bclients. Such a waste of money to build that relationship, and it was during a time in my life where I needed support. It felt like an abandonment wound.
Tyler Knight
2026-02-04 19:30:30 +0000 UTCJust starting listening but wow this is so difficult to listen to! I’m so sorry you had to go through all that harm! Glad you’ve found your strength back and that there was a light at the end of the tunnel ❤️
Elke
2026-02-04 16:03:34 +0000 UTC
