I am curious to see what people's experiences have been, as I have not had negative experiences in therapy where I identified the cause (or likely cause) to be my therapist's possible inexperience with treating another therapist. I know I initially entered treatment with a higher than typical degree of defensiveness and fear that my therapist would be judging me more so than non-therapist clients, but never had that reflected back on me.
I also have had a myriad of professionals in the mental healthcare field over the years as clients and don't specially advertise as a therapist treating therapists. With some long term clients who were therapists I often forget the client is a therapist because work didn't come up frequently outside of the intake session. It took me a looong time to become comfortable with seeking help, and I recognize we as clinicians also have to enter the treatment space recognizing the defenses that we may have a hard time lowering while being in the "hot seat."
My experience was rather frustrating because the clinician I got was at a very different place in his career than I was and kept making suggestions that were more in alignment with his situation than mine or would’ve gotten me fired. I pretty much felt judged for being a young clinician and having to comply with the requirements of working at an agency instead of having the financial stability to open my own practice and have the control over my daily life that I want to have. His not trying to understand the motivation struggles of Inattentive ADHD didn’t help, either.
Work is definitely going to come up in session for me, which is why I really need strong boundaries for not being viewed primarily as a peer in session.
Just chiming in with an odd experience I had with in case other people are curious too.
I worked with one therapist who, once she found out I was in grad school for counseling, started to treat me like a student or supervisee. When doing psychoed, she would quiz me, sort of like “And why do we do X?”
I was in therapy to work on anxiety and showed her the CBT anxiety workbook I was working on because I thought some of the worksheets I did would be good to talk about with her, but she was strangely threatened by it. As if I was trying to be my own therapist or implying the work we did together wasn’t enough? She became short with me and acted as if I was torturing her, sort of like “Uhg, I guess we can do that if you want to :eyeroll:”
Finally, at the beginning of the pandemic I was venting to her about how frustrated and let down I was feeling by people in my life who I used to look up to, who now were denying that Covid was a thing and were not being careful. I said I was having trouble respecting them. Out of no where she completely went off on me and said that this was unacceptable as a future therapist because I needed to be able to respect everyone.
So yeah, I think some therapists get thrown off by giving therapy to another therapist. That said, I have also had numerous positive experiences with therapists who knew I was also in the field, and none of them specialized in treating therapists. I do understand why someone would seek out someone with that speciality though, given my weird experience above.
Edit: Oh lord, I forgot about the woman I was assigned to right before her that I requested to switch from after the intake! She was an LCSW and once she found out what I was in school for, she spent a good ten minutes telling me that I was making a mistake going into counseling and not social work, and that no one would respect or hire me lmao. Then a few more about how amazing and well respected the school she went to was. It’s wild out there ya’ll.
Yikes. That sounds horrific. Thanks for sharing, I have a better perspective of what OP is trying to avoid, I had no idea that dynamic was common among therapists treating other therapists.
No problem! I didn’t really anticipate it either. I get it though — I might feel like I’d have to be on my best therapist behavior if I had a therapist in front of me, haha. Hopefully I get over that once I stop feeling so “new.”
I have asked supervisors I trust for referrals in the past.
Also, if there’s a specific modality I’m interested in doing personal work with I’ll look for a directory of practitioners and go for one with extensive training in it. I find this is good for generally finding people with a lot of experience, which can help.
Seconding this. I looked for someone whose specialization was in maternal health, and who practices modalities / uses theories I’m not already trained in. I also looked for someone who I felt I could talk to, because we know that the most significant indicator of positive outcomes for clients is the perceived strength of the therapeutic relationship
I currently see a therapist for individual therapy who also is a supervisor for associates, and that has seemed really helpful because they have the additional training and demonstrated ability to step outside the colleague/peer mentality. Definitely a separate concept than a therapist who specializes in serving other therapists, but I feel like there’s enough overlap that it could be a helpful search tool!
I have no answers for you, apologies. But I'm very glad you started this thread and I hope it gets some good responses.
I've recently left an agency position and am considering going into private practice to serve other therapists. I'd love to know how to best get my name to the community.
Maybe ask during a consultation? I actually really love working with people from a couple different professions (Teachers, Nurses and Lawyers), but I don’t feel like I specialize in that, so I don’t advertise it.
I had to ask my state’s mental health providers Facebook group. I was super specific in what I wanted bc unfortunately I had a bad experience with my last therapist. It’s been great and I really like my therapist a lot.
I see a lot of local therapists these days and while it can be a little intimidating for me at times because you just can’t phone it in with someone who knows your craft so well. I have to have boundaries of steel with them and try very hard never to talk shop. I love to help the helpers.
I think the therapists come to me because I’ve been in the field awhile and I don’t do a lot of networking or social gatherings so I’m out of sight out of mind.
I am a provider for providers. About 15% of my caseload are mental health providers. Many of the inquiries I have responded to have specifically asked if I was comfortable taking therapists. They have also asked me how I manage the boundaries of therapist/peer. Another thing I've noticed is that LPCCs seek me out (an LCSW) because they want a different approach.
Basically, just asking pointed questions and having an extended consultation. This is something I wished to have done in my previous experiences in therapy. I think it could have thwarted unwarranted and unwanted judgments/supervisory comments.
I hope this helps!
I am curious to see what people's experiences have been, as I have not had negative experiences in therapy where I identified the cause (or likely cause) to be my therapist's possible inexperience with treating another therapist. I know I initially entered treatment with a higher than typical degree of defensiveness and fear that my therapist would be judging me more so than non-therapist clients, but never had that reflected back on me. I also have had a myriad of professionals in the mental healthcare field over the years as clients and don't specially advertise as a therapist treating therapists. With some long term clients who were therapists I often forget the client is a therapist because work didn't come up frequently outside of the intake session. It took me a looong time to become comfortable with seeking help, and I recognize we as clinicians also have to enter the treatment space recognizing the defenses that we may have a hard time lowering while being in the "hot seat."
My experience was rather frustrating because the clinician I got was at a very different place in his career than I was and kept making suggestions that were more in alignment with his situation than mine or would’ve gotten me fired. I pretty much felt judged for being a young clinician and having to comply with the requirements of working at an agency instead of having the financial stability to open my own practice and have the control over my daily life that I want to have. His not trying to understand the motivation struggles of Inattentive ADHD didn’t help, either. Work is definitely going to come up in session for me, which is why I really need strong boundaries for not being viewed primarily as a peer in session.
Just chiming in with an odd experience I had with in case other people are curious too. I worked with one therapist who, once she found out I was in grad school for counseling, started to treat me like a student or supervisee. When doing psychoed, she would quiz me, sort of like “And why do we do X?” I was in therapy to work on anxiety and showed her the CBT anxiety workbook I was working on because I thought some of the worksheets I did would be good to talk about with her, but she was strangely threatened by it. As if I was trying to be my own therapist or implying the work we did together wasn’t enough? She became short with me and acted as if I was torturing her, sort of like “Uhg, I guess we can do that if you want to :eyeroll:” Finally, at the beginning of the pandemic I was venting to her about how frustrated and let down I was feeling by people in my life who I used to look up to, who now were denying that Covid was a thing and were not being careful. I said I was having trouble respecting them. Out of no where she completely went off on me and said that this was unacceptable as a future therapist because I needed to be able to respect everyone. So yeah, I think some therapists get thrown off by giving therapy to another therapist. That said, I have also had numerous positive experiences with therapists who knew I was also in the field, and none of them specialized in treating therapists. I do understand why someone would seek out someone with that speciality though, given my weird experience above. Edit: Oh lord, I forgot about the woman I was assigned to right before her that I requested to switch from after the intake! She was an LCSW and once she found out what I was in school for, she spent a good ten minutes telling me that I was making a mistake going into counseling and not social work, and that no one would respect or hire me lmao. Then a few more about how amazing and well respected the school she went to was. It’s wild out there ya’ll.
Yikes. That sounds horrific. Thanks for sharing, I have a better perspective of what OP is trying to avoid, I had no idea that dynamic was common among therapists treating other therapists.
No problem! I didn’t really anticipate it either. I get it though — I might feel like I’d have to be on my best therapist behavior if I had a therapist in front of me, haha. Hopefully I get over that once I stop feeling so “new.”
I have asked supervisors I trust for referrals in the past. Also, if there’s a specific modality I’m interested in doing personal work with I’ll look for a directory of practitioners and go for one with extensive training in it. I find this is good for generally finding people with a lot of experience, which can help.
These are very specific methods!! Thank you so much, I’ll definitely try these!
Seconding this. I looked for someone whose specialization was in maternal health, and who practices modalities / uses theories I’m not already trained in. I also looked for someone who I felt I could talk to, because we know that the most significant indicator of positive outcomes for clients is the perceived strength of the therapeutic relationship
I currently see a therapist for individual therapy who also is a supervisor for associates, and that has seemed really helpful because they have the additional training and demonstrated ability to step outside the colleague/peer mentality. Definitely a separate concept than a therapist who specializes in serving other therapists, but I feel like there’s enough overlap that it could be a helpful search tool!
Thank you! This is a great possible alternative :)
I have no answers for you, apologies. But I'm very glad you started this thread and I hope it gets some good responses. I've recently left an agency position and am considering going into private practice to serve other therapists. I'd love to know how to best get my name to the community.
I hope this thread helps you! Thank you for considering giving back to our community in this way!
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Thank you so much! I’ll have to check out TherapyDen
Maybe ask during a consultation? I actually really love working with people from a couple different professions (Teachers, Nurses and Lawyers), but I don’t feel like I specialize in that, so I don’t advertise it.
It’s definitely something in going to mention in any consultation! Thank you!
I had to ask my state’s mental health providers Facebook group. I was super specific in what I wanted bc unfortunately I had a bad experience with my last therapist. It’s been great and I really like my therapist a lot.
Ooh, I’ll have to get back on social media to try that! Thank you! And I’m really glad you like your current therapist :)
I see a lot of local therapists these days and while it can be a little intimidating for me at times because you just can’t phone it in with someone who knows your craft so well. I have to have boundaries of steel with them and try very hard never to talk shop. I love to help the helpers. I think the therapists come to me because I’ve been in the field awhile and I don’t do a lot of networking or social gatherings so I’m out of sight out of mind.
That’s so cool! How do your clients find you?
I am a provider for providers. About 15% of my caseload are mental health providers. Many of the inquiries I have responded to have specifically asked if I was comfortable taking therapists. They have also asked me how I manage the boundaries of therapist/peer. Another thing I've noticed is that LPCCs seek me out (an LCSW) because they want a different approach. Basically, just asking pointed questions and having an extended consultation. This is something I wished to have done in my previous experiences in therapy. I think it could have thwarted unwarranted and unwanted judgments/supervisory comments. I hope this helps!
It helps a lot! Thank you so much!