An interesting, perhaps surprising look into the world of counselling. When Therapy Goes Wrong uses the author’s own experience of therapy, the good and the bad, as a foundation to educate and warn others “ to be aware of the potential consequences of therapeutic negligence and the dangers of abusing a position of power, especially when you work with vulnerable people.”
It is acknowledged that this warning is not needed for the majority of those who work within therapy as a profession, but the author goes on to illustrate the lack of regulation within this sector and the potential for vulnerability when looking for a counsellor or therapist and trying to validate their reputation, accreditations or qualifications.
This is a very interesting insight into the world on counselling. Written from the perspective of a client and a training counsellor, the author is frank about the problems she’s seen with the system and the regulation bodies that do exist, as well as taking a look at the response to women within healthcare. Throughout the book there are black and white illustrations from the author, created as an additional form of expression which I liked, and there are references at the end for articles mentioned in the book.
With over 1.5 million referrals to talking therapies every year, it is a staggering realization to many that counselling and therapy in the UK is not regulated, monitored or sanctioned in any way. The British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy (BACP) alone has over 47,000 members, and while this is largest registration body for counsellors in the UK, it is certainly not the only one.It has been estimated that upwards of 25,000 individual counselling qualifications are issued each year, and many of these will never go on to register with any governing body at all. This book provides three personal accounts of the significant harm that counsellors and therapists are capable of causing their clients, and an examination of the counselling industry as a whole, with a focus on the lack of regulation and supervision that so many clients remain unaware of. Encompassing a review of different counselling modalities, including psychodynamic, person-centred, existential and integrative, this book highlights the troubling state of the industry's failings and how you can protect yourself as both a client and a counsellor.This is an essential read for any budding counsellors or clients and provides some much-needed clarity on an overwhelmingly complicated and difficult to navigate industry.
