Can you tell us briefly about why you chose to share your story of Therapy-Gone-Wrong in Therapy Revolution?

What most defined our story was this scenario of the professional, austere therapist, sitting in his mahogany office, bearing all the trappings of authority, and myself – an intelligent but essentially vulnerable woman trying to make sense of her life and her marriage. There was virtually no input from the therapist, no continuity from session to session.

Because it was my first time in therapy, I had nothing to compare with – so I went with it. But being the non-intimidated person I was – though the setting itself was intrinsically domineering –  I started asking the therapist to give me a sense of structure, an outline of what to expect. He told me “Wait and see – this is how therapy works,” and more insinuatingly that my constant asking actually stemmed from my trust issues. If I would but trust him then that itself would be therapeutic.

It all ended in a show-down…read more here.

Dr. Hal Urschel

We are very excited to introduce you to Dr. Harold C. Urschel, MD, the acclaimed author of the New York Times Bestseller, Healing the Addicted Brain: The Revolutionary, Science-Based Alcoholism and Addiction Recovery Program.

In his book Dr. Urschel shows readers the state-of-the-art, scientifically proven addiction treatments and helps them tap into the approaches to treatment that really work.

Here are Part One and Part Two of our interview with Dr. Hal Urschel.

The American Psychiatric Association and others adhere to a mental health bill of rights,  which is important for every patient/patient’s advocate and mental health/addiction professional to read. The bill is comprehensive but quite legalistic in language and content, so we decided to create a list of some practical and relatively easy-to-put-into-practice patient rights, some of which are based on the good work of the APA.

No matter what methods or techniques your therapist uses, there are universal recommendations for the process of therapy.  In themselves, these are not revolutionary in the least, but when taken in context of what some views of accepted practice are, they may very well be. Also, it’s important to note that there are exceptions to every rule and not all of these rights may be applicable in every situation.

In honor of National Mental Health Month, here’s our user-friendly Therapy Patients’ Bill of Rights:

1. A therapy patient has the right to know their therapist’s credentials, experience, and professional background. 

2. A patient has the right to ask any therapist their outcome rates. These rates are determined by doing follow-up tracking with a reasonable percentage of patients after they leave therapy to see how they are maintaining. One year follow up is ideal. Outcome rates (successful or not), should be made available to all potential patients/clients upon request but of most use to the patient are outcome rates that are specific to the patient’s disorder.

3. A therapy patient has a right to receive a comprehensive and thorough psychosocial evaluation/history.

4. A therapy patient has a right to a diagnosis and prognosis at as early a stage of therapy as possible. Additional experts including, but not limited to, psychiatrists, addiction specialists, and so on may be required to assist the therapist in reaching a diagnosis.

5. A therapy patient has the right to a written treatment plan that should be created together with the therapist and utilized, with necessary amendments and changes, throughout the course of therapy.

6. A therapy patient has a right to understand the costs of individual therapy sessions and projected costs of total therapy sessions upon request, before committing to a course of therapy.

7. A therapy patient has the right to a beginning, middle and an end to therapy. If protracted or ongoing therapy is required, then the patient has the right to understand why their diagnosis might warrant this course of action.

8. A therapy patient has the right to expect to achieve specific goals and objectives by agreed-upon target dates.

9. A patient has the right to have his or her own treatment responsibilities explained thoroughly as well as understand the therapist’s responsibilities to the therapy process and to the patient. This includes the responsibility of the therapist to try a different course of treatment and/or refer patients to another therapist if therapy is ineffective after a reasonable period of time.

10. A patient has the right to complete confidentiality as provided for by state and federal laws and regulations.

11. (Submitted by TPG)  A therapy patient has the right to review and copy his or her patient records to the fullest extent permitted by the applicable Federal and State law. If under the law the therapist is not required to release the applicable records to the patient, but must, if the patient requests, release to a third party of the patient’s designation, the therapist must inform the patient of that fact

12. (Submitted by Makeitplainonline) A patient has the right to terminate treatment at any time if they feel dissatisfied in any way. (I think too many clients stay in therapy for long periods of time with therapists they feel bullied and badgered by, or simply feel that they are not getting anywhere. They need to know they can say no, enough is enough)

Did we leave out any essentials? Do you have an addendum? Should we get rid of anything? We want to hear from you!

Whose fault is it when therapy fails–the therapist’s or the patient’s? 

Why therapy patients must advocate for themselves?

Are some therapists in it for the money?

Why some people are magnets for people with problems?

Why many men won’t go to therapy?

How co-occurring disorders should begin to be treated?

Why gentle challenging of dysfunctionl beliefs, values, and notions is part of therapy?

Why chatting isn’t therapy?

Why revealing hidden issues can be helpful?

How to shop for a therapist, and tons more tips.    Enjoy! C.R

Steven also has some experts blogging on his site, including John M. Kennedy, the medical director of preventative cardiology and wellness at Marina Del Ray hospital and other stress experts. I’m also blogging on StopStressingNow.com and I’m going to focus on a few things including: how to know if you might benefit from psychotherapy, how to get the best therapy if you decide to see  a therapist, and how stress and anxiety can be a stepping stone to substance abuse and addiction, (and how to avoid that dangerous spiral).

My first blog is called Assess Yourself and it helps readers identify if they have symptoms that might require therapy.

http://blogs.psychcentral.com/therapy-soup/2010/01/turn-turn-turn/

Instant messenging and writing an email, like writing in a journal, can be useful tools  in helping some patients feel connected, organize their thoughts, get in touch with their feelings, and so on, all while receiving feedback that might feel too confrontational if in person.  However, in order for psychotherapists and counselors to evaluate patients fully and get to know the person behind the diagnosis, seeing visual cues known as “body language”, (facial expressions, gestures,body positions and movements, even choice of clothing), and hearing a patient’s voice are all important to good therapy.

For patients in certain circumstances who would otherwise be unable to access therapy or as a fill-in for face-to-face therapy, online and phone therapies can have great merit. However, the eyes are the windows to the soul and being able to see a patient’s eyes, listen to their voice, see their body language, and so on, are important factors that contribute to how a therapist crafts a session or a course of therapy.

We all have the experience of hitting send on an email, and regretting it. The written word is as “loaded” with cues as the spoken word, perhaps even more since it can be read over and over again while the spoken word is generally heard once, and accessed only by memory. This colors our emotional and intellectual responses/understanding of the message. Perhaps a new way to describe what happens when we communicate by email or instant messaging is needed,  a different kind of communication is happening, and this, in turn, is having an impact on our relationships.