Comments by "MarcosElMalo2" (@MarcosElMalo2) on "Six Signs of a Bad Therapist (Counselor / Mental Health Clinician)" video.

  1. Save this comment for the less-than-ideal client video. 😉
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  2. During my (rebellious) adolescence, my parents sent me to a psychiatrist, who prescribed hypnotherapy (he had a hypnotherapist on staff). While I question how much long term help the therapy gave me for my behavioral issues, I did learn how to self-induce a hypnotic or meditative state. It certainly helps with insomnia. The therapy was this: I’d sit in a room in a reclining chair. I’d listen to a hypnotherapy tape with the lights dimmed. The hypnotherapist was having work related issues (he joked about them), and it sometimes showed in his work. My appointments were at 1 o’clock, and twice he was late coming back from lunch. The second time was noteworthy. The receptionist went ahead and put me in the hypnotherapy room and had me put the headphones. I put myself into hypnotic state (or it was triggered by the environment?). About twenty minutes later I realized that no one had put on a tape. I got up and confronted the therapist, who said he would give me a full session without charge. The next week, the psychiatrist called me to tell me he was changing my therapy to biofeedback therapy. He didn’t really explain why this would be better or more appropriate than hypnotherapy, other than it would be “better suited”. I asked him what happened to the hypnotherapist, and the psychiatrist told me that he had left the group for other opportunities. Luckily, however, a biofeedback therapist had just joined the practice, etc. It was a sales pitch. I told my parents I didn’t want to go back—clearly there was some basic ethical issues going on. The next therapist wasn’t much better. He was a child psychologist who later went on to become a famous crime novelist. Our sessions was generally me talking for 15 minutes and then him reminiscing for 30 minutes on his teenage and college years. I saw him for four or five sessions before telling my parents I didn’t want to go back. They didn’t insist. We put up with each other for 3 more months and then I left home for college and never moved back. I didn’t used to think I was actually damaged in any way by this malpractice. However, I was turned off to therapy for quite a while, and didn’t seek help during several crises.
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