This is obviously another rant... loaded with passion so brace yourselves.
I'm stressing from this moment that this is an opinion I developed in the heat of the moment and that it doesn't extend to every psychiatrist or mental health professional - just a few that I know and have been told about.
So :
On the subject of counseling....
I really don't get the point!
If you're talking about one-on-one therapy.. it's just you talking to another normal, sometimes inadequately educated human being who probably can't help you or doesn't know what will help you outside the reach of drugs and pointless methods that are only temporary. You're telling your life story to someone you have never known outside of their office and you can't tell if they really care about what you have to say or if they're just treating you like another 'case'. Either way... it's an inefficient way of handling your problems. You can't run to other people and expect them to have the answers you're looking for. When you do that you're only looking for what you want to know or hear and you're only hoping that someone other than yourself can advise you on what's best for you....
Do you realize that in taking a psychiatrist's advise you're trusting them to have more interest in your well being than you do...? Some people may be comfortable with that - with giving up their metal freedom or whatever else in order to get some 'help' from someone who 'knows better'. Some psychiatrists [I won't say all because there HAVE TO BE a few good ones] see their patients as cases and nothing more and don't care about them once they run out of money. Others probably just want to hear their problems because they have a God complex and think it's their responsibility to 'help the poor, suffering, mentally desolate individuals of the world'. How selfless they are...
Group therapy on the other hand is on it's own level. It's a state of being so willing to humiliate yourself while seeking the pity and fake concern of a group of people who know no better than you do and have probably done worse than you have. Addicts stick together... so do idiots.
You stand up in front of a crowd of people who have never met you before and don't care where you've been... sure they share something in common with you but that also means they are more likely to just smile and nod as you talk instead of offering advice. I mean... how are they going to offer advice when they need it themselves?! Where's the logic in that??
You're telling them things you probably haven't told your closest friend of significant other and you have nothing to gain from that. You get words off your chest - Yay for you... but what does that do, other than add to the people who know about your shortcomings?
No one truly cares what happens in your life; if they ask, they have an angle.
I'm not knocking all counseling methods... honestly, there are people who truly need it and actually benefit from it. But for too long now - and lately I've been seeing a lot more of this - people show up at random meetings, say a few things and pat themselves on the back when someone walks away smiling thinking they've done a good job or their 'good deed' for the day. It makes me sick to think that people can take advantage of the fragile psyche of other human beings. There are individuals in the world who are actually hurting. Who actually need help. And because of these morons - these self-indulgent, self-righteous, pious pity-seekers - who have distorted the whole process....
A degree isn't the only qualification you need in order to help people...
A PhD only means you've been in school, you have money and you wanted to make a name for yourself... it says nothing about character - character is what matters.
