Society is becoming polarized along political, cultural and ideological lines. Everyone seems to have an opinion, and opinions are often strongly held. Disagreements about politics can bleed over into personal relationships. The Wall Street Journal reports that therapists often have strong opinions and opinions sometimes biased the care they provide, saying:
Some push their own ideologies, encourage patients toward a path that worked for them, and even judge family members they have never met. And the results can be dangerous.
“When a therapist is biased, it can lead a client to make a decision that isn’t necessarily in their best interest or is the decision that they would make independently,” says Dianne Smith, a licensed marriage and family therapist in Sandpoint, Idaho, who has been in practice for 45 years.
In psychology the term when therapists unintendedly allow their own views, biases and emotions to influence the care they provide to clients is called countertransference. More from WSJ:
Therapists are taught to manage these feelings, but if not trained well or sufficiently self-reflective, they can let their biases go unchecked. And when that happens, the focus shifts from their patient’s needs to their own worldview.
Personal views are entering the therapy room more these days. That is in large part thanks to the internet, which pushes narratives around political and social issues and encourages people to take strong stances, says Joel Weinberger, a clinical psychologist and psychology professor at Adelphi University.
“It used to be that you didn’t tell your patient your personal view or orientation,” he says. “But now there is this view that you do, because you’re sharing good values.”
William Doherty, a therapist and professor emeritus of family social science at the University of Minnesota told WSJ:
And many therapists are getting caught up in trends in both therapy and the culture, including the encouragement of victimhood, estrangements and the broadening of terms like “harassment” and “abuse.”
One woman told WSJ she wanted to improve communication with her mother and boyfriend. Yet her therapist encouraged her to cut off contact with both her mother and her boyfriend. It then came to light that the therapist had cut off her own mother and claimed to have “…wasted all of her 30s on a man.” The woman dumped her therapist instead.
What can you do about unintentional biased advice from a therapist? Experts say there are a few steps patients can take to limit or reveal biases.
Set a goal. If your goals are clear there is less room for a therapist to push an agenda. For instance, saying you want to improve communication with your parents or spouse leaves less room for an agenda than saying you are having a hard time communicating with them due to political differences.
Check out your therapist. Your therapist’s social media, or even a simple discussion of your therapist’s viewpoints can reveal hidden biases.
Watch out for directives. Therapists should help patients navigate problems rather than direct them with “I think you should…” or “Have you thought about…”
Beware of diagnosing people not in the room. A therapist should never label people they’ve never met or treated personally as toxic, narcissistic, autistic or as having borderline personality disorders. Doing so suggests that their patients are not responsible for negative aspects of the relationship and can do nothing about it except cut them off.
Strong opinions and taking sides in the culture wars seems to be encouraged nowadays. Counselors and therapists are not immune to these trends, and biases are compromising patient care. Bias is something patients should be on the lookout for when selecting a counselor. The risks are not only that your therapist may push his or her own agenda, but also, they may reinforce client’s own biases that are interfering with relationships.
Wall Street Journal: Is Your Therapist Biased? Personal Agendas Are Creeping into the Therapy Room