Blogging on Good Therapy

Dear Members, I received a blog post this morning from a caring professional who’s concerned about some of the therapies in our List of Models. This is a topic I’ve addressed in an earlier post called Good Model of Therapy?… Not for us to decide… , but as a result of this post I feel the need to address this again. It is an important topic. First, here is what she writes:

“Healing and powerful? Your website is full of therapies that have been engaging in aggressive marketing campaigns making unsupported claims for years with no evidence to support those claims and some such as CISD have been shown to do more harm than good in a number of reviews of the evidence. The kinds of therapies you promote here are many of the ones I warn people about so I will be warning buyers to beware about your website.

Even though you truthfully state on your list of therapies that not all have empirical support, you also make claims that they are “healing and powerful” and your listing of them on a site entitled goodtherapy.com is aiding and abetting promoters who are making false claims. You do consumers a grave disservice. Now I’ll wait and see if you’ll post this comment on your website but I won’t be holding my breath.”

We’ll I’m happy that you didn’t hold your breath. :) I’m pleased to have the integrity and confidence in the mission of GoodTherapy.org to share your statement and address it publicly. I have a number of points to make:

1. First and foremost, we state clearly here that, “GoodTherapy.org is not in a position to endorse or disapprove any therapy models.”

2. I agree with you that it is irresponsible of us to describe all the therapies in our list as “healing and powerful.” Doing so contradicts our claim that we are nor in a position to endorse these models. I searched our site to find where “healing and powerful” was written and found it on a support page and promptly removed it. This piece of text was unfortunately a left over from an earlier time when GoodTherapy.org had taken up the grandiose task of attempting to completely evaluate and research models before putting them on our list. Our list was much shorter then. Our task is much different now. Thanks for pointing this out to us.

3. If you believe a particular therapy model is harmful, by all means name names. In your post you’ve named CISD and I’m willing to consider the evidence from all sides. If you have others that you believe are harmful, please open a dialogue with me about it. There are numerous opportunities on this blog in which you could share your concerns. You can also contact me individually. I will take your concerns seriously. As I state on our models page “we do reserve the right to exclude models which clearly conflict with the elements of good therapy” But, let’s not throw out the baby with the bathwater.

4. There are numerous models in our list that I do not practice, have no interest in practicing, and some I am even skeptical of. But we leave the evaluation of therapy models up to people to decide for themselves. Most therapy approaches have some controversy. Even traditional models, such as psychoanalysis, have both followers who are highly in favor (and even tout the miracles of this approach) and naysayers who see the approach as arrogant, condescending, and abusive. I know your concern is really about the possibility of unaware consumers being harmed by dangerous therapy models and I salute you for your compassion. As a therapist and one who has spent many years doing his own work, I know the dangers of bad therapy first hand - it’s why we created this site. I believe knowledge is power and I trust people, generally, to see for themselves, to research, to ask around, to check a therapy model out. This is why we provide links to more information on each therapy model. And this is why we remove some models: because knowledge from a caring person, like you helps us to make an informed decision.

5. We require all consumers who view our List of Models to first view the Terms and Conditions for viewing the Models of Therapy List which clearly warns consumers of the danger of therapy and therapists.

6. We state the following on our Models of Therapy page:

The following is a list of therapies which can, if used accordingly, adhere to the spirit, philosophy, and principles of what we at GoodTherapy.org believe to be “good therapy.” Some have been around for many years, others are relatively new. Some have been grounded in research, others in theory, and some rely on anecdotal evidence. Some are popularly accepted, others are cutting edge, and some controversial. GoodTherapy.org is not in a position to endorse or disapprove any therapy models. Our intention is to promote the use and awareness of the universal elements of good therapy which can be found across therapies. However, we do reserve the right to exclude models which clearly conflict with the elements of good therapy. We encourage you to explore, research, and discover for yourself which therapies may be a fit for you. We’ve included links to other sites with information on these models so you can have any easy starting point. We wish you the best on your journey :)

For those searching for help, please know that even a healthy model of therapy can be used in an unhealthy way. The therapist you choose is a very important factor in whether a therapy intended to work collaboratively and to empower actually does so. Also, the following list is a work in progress; there are therapies not yet listed here. As we become familiar with other approaches we will add them to this list. Click here to suggest a model of therapy that is not on our list.

7. We are in the process of creating a forum where professionals can debate the pros and cons of therapy models. When the forum goes live I hope you will share your concerns with us, if not before.

I look forward to responses from others, any thoughts, feelings, concerns?

Noah :)

Hi Folks,  Although GoodTherapy.org does not require therapists to be licensed in order to join our site and list their practice, we do require people to certify that:  1) they are Mental Health Professionals (Counselor, Psychotherapist, Social Worker, Marriage & Family Therapist, Psychologist, Psychiatrist, Physician, Nurse Practitioner, or other related professional); and 2) that they have graduate level academic training in psychotherapy and mental health counseling and a degree from an accredited institution.

Due to the large number of members from outside the US and Canada, there are degrees and diplomas I’ve never heard of.  So, I’m asking for your help.  If you’re familiar with the license types in the United Kingdom, Australia, France, and other locations outside the US and Canada, I’d really appreciate your input.  Could you please tell me which degrees/diplomas are standard for graduate level mental health professionals.  If I had the time ,I’d do the research myself, but being that I have access to a wealth of resources: you and your fellow GoodTherapy members, It’s easier to ask for help.  Thanks so much for taking the time to help.  Noah :)