# Helpful or harmful?



## Snowflake1010 (Jan 11, 2014)

Where does therapy cross the line from being helpful to actually being harmful?

I don't want to go into too much detail as to why I am asking this but if anyone has had experience either way I would really appreciate some input. I know therapy is sometimes unpleasant and there are things that need to be confronted and understood intellectually and I feel like I have made significant progress in that aspect, which is a good thing. However, I also feel like every time I leave I feel worse than when I went in. So, now I am confused and am wondering if this is doing more damage than it is good? I am conflicted because some of what I have learned about myself is important and is helping me understand certain things but it's still making me feel bad in other ways. I don't know how therapy is supposed to work. Any thoughts or opinions?


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## greggs92 (Feb 12, 2014)

If your talking about talking therapies, then they are very counter-productive in overcoming anxiety because if you spend time talking about your problems, then your only going to reinforce them into your mind, it's always going to be there isn't it. The only way to overcome it is to bury it as a memory.


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## soligt (Aug 7, 2010)

I've had a few different therapists and there was a big differentce between how they made me feel. I was seeing one who had a very good reputation, had written a book, etc.. I never felt tired or anything after I left him. Then I switched to a cheaper LCSW and he was a smart guy but was also an anxious person himself. I felt like his anxiety was being transfered over to me just being around him. Maybe you should try some other therapists before givign up on it.


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## Jenikyula (Nov 7, 2007)

The first therapist I saw only took me seriously for a few sessions, after which she must have decided I was faking because she started acting like she did not care at all. I was a teenager desperate for some kind of support, so I kept seeing her for a long while, but of course the sessions were not at all helpful. In fact, I suspected she did not care and that made me feel even worse, which was obviously harmful. Luckily my next two therapists were much, much better at their jobs.


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## Jenikyula (Nov 7, 2007)

Oh, now I see my previous post doesn't relate to your question at all! Sorry. 

If you are learning things about yourself during therapy, then it is working. I suspect that you feel bad about it as you leave because it's sort of a gut-wrenching experience. You basically bare your vulnerability to someone, and that can be really painful. But think of it as good pain. Pain that inspires change and growth and self-improvement.


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## CEB32 (Mar 6, 2014)

Dont focus on how you feel during or after, but how you feel the next day. Different people react in different ways, its fairly common to feel like crap upon the realization of whats actually wrong with you and what might have caused it.

If it becomes about the person you are seeing and the overall picture is deteriorating, then there is an issue. Teling your therapist this would be a start


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