Posted by alexis6 on September 11, 2004, at 16:36:11 [reposted on September 11, 2004, at 18:26:18 | original URL]
In reply to Re: My therapist just terminated me-by email!, posted by purplestarchild on September 11, 2004, at 12:15:23
> Hi,
> I'm new to the board, but must say, being in the counseling field myself, I find your therapists behavior unethical and I would at least file a report with the board, letting them know what happened to you. There is no telling how many others this has happened to by this therapist and when you're a therapist, one main responsbility is to try to ensure that your own behavior does not make your client worse. Just my opinion though!
> Good luck!
> Leslie aka purplestarchild
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Hi, Leslie, thanks for your advice, I appreciate it. I don't want to file a report just out of spite or because I feel hurt, but I am concerned about his other clients and whether or not he may do this in the future to someone in a more vunerable position and with less support.I'm a psychology student as well as a psychotherapy client, and from a purely academic standpoint I find his behavior to be extremely risky, considering as well that he is mostly a trauma and abuse counselor and works with many clients who would be likely to self-harm in such a situation.
The lack of follow-up and the unencouraging "if you wish to continue therapy call one of these three people" tone of his emails seemed especially negligent-there was no attempt to directly put me in touch with another therapist or to ensure my safety if I was in crisis (not to mention transfer my files). As well none of the three women counselors he referred me to actually knew him, although two had met him very briefly, and none of them had been contacted by him even to see if they were accepting new clients (one wasn't, and the one I ended up seeing did me a huge favor by making time for me). I believe I will at least contact his professional counselors association-I don't know if I could live with myself knowing he may cause someone else to hurt themself in the future.
If you have time, Leslie, I was hoping you may be able to give me a brief rundown on the termination or referral procedures you find ethical to use? I'm sure they involve face-to-face contact, but as well do you directly set up the client with another therapist and transfer their records, etc? I know this is probably best for the Psych board, but I'm afraid I don't know how to move this over there :-).
Cheers, Alexis
poster:alexis6
thread:389416
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20040911/msgs/389792.html