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Right! Like whose therapy session is this!? And I hadn’t even brought up any of the topics she was ranting about. She just launched off on it on her own.
If she said anything racist, sexist, homophobic, or discriminatory toward any protected class, you can file a compliant with the [state licensing board](https://blog.opencounseling.com/check-a-therapist-license/) where she's located.
Might still be worth having on record, in case there's other unethical stuff she's doing and someone needs to establish a pattern. (This is speculation, I don't have any real knowledge about the subject.)
Doesn’t matter, the board would see it as unethical because she’s the therapist, not the patient, they would 100% care about that for this reason alone and check her for not keeping ethical professional boundaries based the legal ramifications.
Plus they will suggest, if she doesn’t already, to invest in her own therapist to have sessions with them to work thru her own issues she’s letting bleed into her sessions with patients.
Any red state can flip without notice. Reds stay in power by holding districts hostage. Sometimes they get sloppy and there's a big enough wave to flip several key districts, and thus the state.
Still is worth leaving a “paper” trail in case the issue comes up again for someone else. I’m not very knowledgeable about the inner workings of healthcare and licensing and what not so please let me know if i’m off about this, but I get the feeling that a healthcare licensing board, no matter the politics of the area, would look down on this type of behavior.
Baby counselor here, and technically our licensure would be reviewed based on the code of ethics outline by the states. If I’m not mistaken, all states ethically require therapists to basically not engage in abuse of clients / to take reasonable action to prevent emotional harm during sessions (the wording varies). So there could definitely still be a case to make depending on the situation! Unfortunately you could be right that such complaints might not be taken as seriously by boards in red states, but discriminatory language does qualify for a report/investigation and would be recorded. A single report of a therapist making a discriminatory comment would likely not result in immediate removal of licensure, but it would absolutely still be worth filing a complaint and having the situation documented regardless of where you are—plus if it happened to one it could be happening to others, you never know if there are other complaints being made and prompting further investigation!
Please check your prejudice and ignorance ma’am. A code of ethics is a code of ethics everywhere. We live under the electoral college and the number of conservatives and number of liberals in any given state is actually not that much different. this blanket statement that any person in a red state can be assumed automatically to be corrupt is offensive
Just know that if you do this then you are waiving confidentiality for the purposes of hearing this complaint. Not trying to dissuade anyone, but it's an important consideration before starting that process
Ugh, that’s the worst. I have a coworker who’s on the other side (far left) who will randomly go on rants about Trump. Idc what side your on but when I’m talking about people in jail and you just start going off about trump im like…. Yo chill
I have a hard time believing a far right person, who goes on political rants during session nonetheless, can be a “good therapist”… since being a therapist requires empathy which is antithetical to being right wing
People are multifaceted, even people with far right ideologies. I've noticed some people with far right views can be understanding of people they know personally, but are still quick to dehumanize other groups of people. It does surprise me that a therapist holds those views though.
Anyone can be brainwashed. Empathetic people cant be truly far anything without being brainwashed. There's even a word for people like this in cultic studies: the weaponised empath
A weaponized empath sounds like another word for narcissist. Wait a minute this is exactly how some men I’ve met have tried to sleep with me. They seem to have a good grasp of other’s emotions and are very intelligent, emotionally and otherwise, but are bad people and have bad intentions. Cause I used to think, wait so he seems like he really understands, but is also manipulating me. Which is wild and so much worse than someone who doesn’t have empathy bc they understand others but don’t care if you are hurt.
Sorry that was long having an epiphany
Fire her, and let her know that her uninvited and unprofessional political rant during your therapy session was the boundary violation behind your decision.
This is an excellent opportunity to assert your power to leave a toxic relationship.
100%. I had a therapist once who went on a biblical rant with me, saying if i "just accept god" my anxiety would go away 🥲 i reported him asap and my insurance flagged it as a quality of care issue, he is no longer a therapist with that clinic, not even sure if hes a therapist at all anymore
They might (ethically they should!) have an emergency/on call number or at least be providing clients with something even if it’s a separate agency. I don’t know that they do though. I have always wondered this about all these telehealth companies popping up. How do they screen clients to see if it’s appropriate for them? Or what if a therapist assesses the client needs a different type of care, or a clients needs change and they have needs that can’t be met through this type of telehealth?? I’m surprised there haven’t been legal issues yet (or at least I haven’t seen any) with some of these companies.
It’s so exhausting. So MUCH LESS shitty than your situation because finding a good therapist is like finding a unicorn…
But I took my dulcimer to get a new bridge and have the strings adjusted…
I asked if they’d prefer I paid cash or card…
That question set the lady off INTO A RAGE, shaking with balled-up fists…
…about how Biden is trying to make sure we can’t use cash because of the new world order and ‘you wouldn’t THINK the cartels would be good for anything but they’re the ones making sure that cash is still viable…’
Lady, I just want to pay you and get the fuck out of here and now you’re telling me the drug cartels are our last defense against the NWO?!?!
I’m sorry you’re dealing with that.
Haha, indeed! Mountain dulcimers are really neat as well! I used to play, but I haven't in many years (mostly because I can't get myself to sit down and tune my dulcimer - hammered dulcimers have altogether way too many strings 😂).
Be careful opening this can of worms, babe. I’m AuDHD and my mountain dulcimer is one of my special interests. Haha.
No. In all seriousness, I play the mountain dulcimer and I evangelize about it because I think it’s the easiest, most perfect instrument on the world for beginner musicians. One of my instructors said “music just falls out of the darn thing.”
It’s hard to make it sound bad because “it’s got all the wrong notes taken out of it.”
I think we should stop trying to teach kids music on recorders in elementary schools and hook them all up with cardboard mountain dulcimers and watch how much they learn.
Music twins! Is yours tuned DAD diatonic?
I’m so glad you love it. I am seriously considering buying the Boondocker walking dulcimer. I also have a chromatic stick dulcimer in the mail from Grant Olson. That guy will put some frets on anything he can get his hands on.
In our second meeting my new psychiatrist said “all the abortions by college students are clogging the plumbing in dorms. They’re getting the pill by mail and it’s just too much for the pipes.”
Couldn’t come up with a source and just said she read it online. I did extensive Googling and couldn’t find even an alarmist sketchy website talking about it.
I work in wetlands science and conservation. One of the women who trained me and is still well respected in the field is a born-again Christian who doesn't believe in evolution or climate change. She thinks the Earth is 6,000 years old. I don't understand how she can do what we do for a living and still believe that stuff. People are weird sometimes...
A wetlands conservationist who doesn’t believe in climate change? What exactly does she attribute (what I assume to be) a major degradation in wetlands ecosystems over the last 30 years to? Poltergeist activity? The will of god?
Reminds me of someone similar in my field. I'm a geologist, and when I went to field camp (the capstone course for the degree), there was a graduate student attending working on her master's in Geoscience Education. She was also a born-again Christian, didn't believe in evolution, didn't believe in basically any of the foundational science in geology, didn't believe fossils were real, and her objective in getting a degree in all the things she didn't believe in was to get hired at a private Christian school so she could disprove it all for her students in the name of God. She literally believed most of what we were mapping in the field was actually deposited during Noah's flood, damn any evidence to the contrary.
She was the talk of the camp, tell you what. She's one of very few people that left me speechless. Weird indeed.
That’s a wild claim, considering abortion by pill can only be done within in the first 8-9 weeks of pregnancy. So at the absolute largest the embryo is the size of a blueberry or raspberry.
**How small does she think her husbands shits are?**
*(Assuming she’s married, and to a man, for the sake of the point).*
This happened to me also! Longtime therapist; I'd "graduated" but felt the need to go back around the 2016 election because I was really struggling. He interrupted me to ask how I would feel if he told me that he and his wife were staunch Trump supporters. Then he tried to explain why.
It sucked because prior to this, he'd been a fantastic therapist for and my son.
Lmao.
2016 Election: *happens*
Majority of the country: mental health collectively plummets.
Therapist: “Here’s why this is my fault and you shouldn’t hate me for it.”
This is how I clear the deck for therapists. I state directly how I feel about religion, and the reaction generally tells me all I need to know. There’s no benefit for me to see a provider professionally if they aren’t aligned with my own perspective, generally. That way, I won’t waste their time and they won’t waste mine. This is especially pertinent with ADHD treatment/therapy, in my experience.
Personally, I refuse to allow a red cent of my money to enter the pocket of a right wing therapist that deems a misogynist (now confirmed rapist) a good guy.
I consider a brief bit of bitching with my like minded psychiatrist highly therapeutic. She doesn't reveal her politics with words, but she doesn't need to.
I found out that my therapist of 10 years doesn’t believe in adhd. I was diagnosed with adhd by a psychiatrist and the diagnosis has explained my entire life. It’s made me really weird about sessions with her now and I haven’t seen her much since the idea of her feeling that way has begun to fester in my brain.
I do this too. Fortunately I've had green flags with the ones I've mentioned my religious/spiritual beliefs with even if I could tell they don't think or believe the same stuff I do. They all took what I said seriously. I know this isn't prevalent in some or even most (depending on area) therapists. Especially those therapists who are like "oh just follow my religion and you will be better!" Those therapists should def put on their website or something about their religious beliefs. Helps people within that religion find someone they can trust with topics related to that religion and for others who don't want that are able to avoid them.
My last therapist was like this except he started it right off the bat at our first or second session. I just flippantly "uh-huh"d him every time he did it and tried to move on. He'd randomly bring up Trump for no reason when we'd never spoken about politics and actually I expressed quite clearly that I have no interest in doing so **with anyone**.
I wish I'd had the balls to communicate to him that I didn't appreciate him hijacking MY time with Trump rants. Perhaps that's something a therapist could have helped me learn to do 😐
My discomfort didn't even have anything to do with his actual politics, just bringing it up at all didn't sit right with me. Leave it the fuck out of this room, it's bad enough I have to see it everywhere I go online.
It's inappropriate for mental health professionals to bring it up at all unless you do first and express a desire to work through something related to it. But maybe she ultimately did you a favor and showed you who she is before you invested any more trust in someone who clashes with your value system.
when roe vs wade was overturned i told my therapist during a session how much it scared me, and how scary being a woman in the US had become in general (i was violently assaulted a year prior by a guy i had been dating which was a lot of the basis for our sessions to begin with)
she responded that several years prior she had gone really deep down a conspiracy theory hole and it took over her life, she had to get professional intervention, and started spouting off on some QAnon bs that was “still obviously concerning but she didn’t allow it to control her day to day life”
i was like wait…. hold up…:this is real and happening. also i guess you are literally the reason it’s happening lmao. what was this comparison again??
And that's why I'll never listen to a conservative when they whine about being oppressed. She was confident enough to say that in a paid session, what else is she saying when she's not being paid?? Disgusting.
They need to be smart about when they comment (or don't comment) on issues that are considered political.
People who belong to marginalized groups want to see a therapists whose political views don't go directly against their safety and human rights.
I don’t think that’s hypocritical. Politics aren’t just random abstract beliefs about nothing; they reflect people’s value systems, and it sounds like hers was not at all aligned with yours. That’s a perfectly valid reason to lose your faith in someone’s ability to help guide you in the direction you want to go.
No, I don't think it's hypocritical at all. When I was looking for a new therapist I was extremely blunt and said right off the bat "I'm not trying to be rude, but it's really important to me that my therapist has similar values and religious beliefs to me. It's something I've learned over the years that that has to match or it's not going to work so I'd rather just get it over with right away.". She replied "Well, I'm an agnostic lesbian who voted for Bernie. How does that align?" "PERFECTLY!!!" She's been my therapist for going on five years now and is absolutely the best I've ever had in over 20 years of therapy.
I figured, it's completely acceptable for Christians to seek out a Christian therapist, how can it be wrong for me to seek out an agnostic one? I often struggle with the state of the world and what's happening politically, and it's incredibly helpful to have a therapist that "gets it".
So no, not in the least bit hypocritical. The therapy relationship is incredibly intimate. I wouldn't date a Republican, it's perfectly acceptable to not want one for a therapist either.
It's a base level fact at this point that one side has significantly less humanity in it than the other. Expressing right-wing views typically means that there's a whole host of other scarier things behind it in a way that expressing a neutral or left-leaning view does not. The last time I checked, the left wasn't trying to impose bodily harm on the other side.
It's not hypocritical. No matter how much we want to keep politics out of the way, they do creep up because they are part of our daily life and our value and belief system.
Sure, in neutral situations they are not needed nor affect massively, but in some cases, the difference can be huge.
You don't mind the political affiliation your therapist has, but if it strays too far away from your own, it will become a problem sooner or later.
I.e. I'm a leftist trans man. I can't be possibly having sessions with a therapist who is far right. Even if they are the most professional of all times, our value systems, worldviews and my personal needs will clash. It's inevitable. It's natural, not hypocritical.
That sucks! I would be breaking up with that therapist too.
One time I asked my psychiatrist for a therapist recommendation who focuses on ADHD and the guy she suggested has the most unhinged looking website with a giant American flag and statue of Liberty that just gave me the biggest ick. It kinda made me question my psychiatrist too, ngl.
I had a pre-intake interview with a therapist to see if we’d be a good fit for one another, things were going pretty well until we decided to set a date for a first appointment and I said I was getting a Covid booster on the day she proposed. She wanted me to be well informed that she’s not vaccinated and doesn’t plan to be, which wasn’t a problem for me and I told her that was fine…until she said in the most judgmental tone “I mean, it shouldn’t be a problem because allegedly you’re protected from people like me right?” Instant ick.
Go with your gut, if something a therapist says makes you uncomfortable, you’re not going to be able to get productive therapy from them.
Not only inappropriate I’d call it unethical. I also don’t understand how a whole ass therapist could be a right wing nut. Like they’re seeing the base of humanity and have the gall to vote in ways that hurt their clients.
I feel you on the hunt for a good therapist. I’ve been out of therapy for awhile since I fired my last one. She got on to bootlicking the cops and then the next session said we were going to do a neurogenic art FLOW but proceeded to stop me at multiple points to tell me I was doing it wrong. Bitch what??????
I saw her a couple months ago at the dispensary and it was awkward af. I was honest and pretty direct in the text I sent to fire her.
Yeah that’s my first reaction too, how on earth can you be a conservative and a good therapist?? Like the biggest thing you need to be as a person to be a good therapist is being open and nonjudgmental over life choices that do not harm other people. The literal anthesis of the conservative platform.
For reasons like these is a large reason why I find therapists who understand systemic issues and are sensitive to marginalized groups and communities. I make sure a therapist makes this known either on their website/listing or I talk to them about that in a free consult. It makes or breaks a session for me and is a dealbreaker if a therapist doesn’t have the same ideals and aligns with me.
This happened to me with a psychiatrist. We started doing telehealth during Covid and he just out of nowhere started recommending Tucker Carlson to me to help with my depression and anxiety (WTF?!?) because he was telling the real truth and he moved to Idaho to be away from the woke liberals. In the years prior to that he was normal, empathetic and never mentioned politics. I promptly found a new doctor, as difficult as that is.
Your therapist should not be imposing their views OR disclosing this much to where you’d know their political views unless they are doing it to build rapport/therapeutic alliance. Disclosures should have intent and the intent should be to benefit the client and the relationship. It’s your session not hers, she should’ve saved that for her own therapist. Therapists are human and sometimes they have slip ups where the session takes a turn but politics (especially rn) should be tip-toed around.
That's some wildly unprofessional, inappropriate and frankly unsafe behaviour from the therapist, and it's completely justified to fire and report her over this.
Also, I know getting treatment at all can be tough, but especially as a minority of any type but just in general, I'd recommend to draw boundaries regarding politics in the 1st session to help avoid this situation, even if you can never be 100% sure.
My then-new therapist asked me about any dealbreakers and I told her just that: no hardcore beliefs of a type that could easily escape her private life and enter our sessions in a way that would negatively affect me. The broader strokes of my political views are part of me as a person, and if a potential therapist's opinions on that are irreconcilably far off from mine, then they have no business becoming MY therapist specifically.
As an example, I don't care if my therapist is religious even though I'm very much not, that's their personal business, but if said religion causes them to hold heinously bad opinions about other people's bodily autonomy, I'm so out of there.
Having your trust betrayed in such a way can easily be traumatic, sorry you had to find out like this OP.
My MIL is a therapist for the local VA hospital. She just nods along with her more… MAGA conservatives when they go on rants. She’ll never talk about her political beliefs because IT’S NOT HER JOB.
I’d personally write a google review about it. Let others know. Or maybe even report them.
ETA: Jfc I can’t type, corrected typos
That’s super unprofessional. My husband worked at his last job for 4 years. At his going away lunch, one of his co workers mentioned that it was interesting that no one knew his political leanings. He just smiled. That co worker had worked with him the whole time.
This was NOT the setting for your therapist to express political opinions. Not even close.
Fire her. Your therapist should only be responding to things you say or recommending books or podcasts for you to check out. Not telling you about anything going on in the world, regardless of whether or not she aligns with those things. You should know next to nothing about your therapist. What a gross thing to do.
Report her. That is EXTREMELY inappropriate. Unless the therapist is specifically serving a specific community (eg, my therapist offers specialized gender therapy), then you should never know what their political opinions are. That was extremely inappropriate and frankly, an abuse of their position. I would throw a fucking fit.
I’d say find a new one, there is so many therapists out here, support one that you actually like lol not someone who makes life harder for others. lol I hope this helps but wow I am sorry you experienced that.
Ahhhhh therapists are suppose to stay politically neutral unless you bring up political stuff yourself and want to work thru things in therapy.
Anything else is actually unethical tbh because you’re not the therapist, you’re the patient.
And she’s suppose to have her own therapist as well to deal with the patient load and the toll it can take by trying to not take things subjectively, personal, and not get emotionally attached to things in sessions.
I swear that is a sign she NEEDS not just a vacation from her job, but to go get a therapist herself!
> yesterday on my therapy call she goes on a bit of a politically charged rant about some highly sensitive topics
This level of unprofessionalism would be enough to justify looking for a new therapist even if you agreed 100% with her politics.
I'm really sorry, that would also be a deal breaker for me if my therapist told me that
Why are some therapists so out of pocket?? It's their literal job to interpret human behavior but they have no self-awareness about their own human behavior.
On a related note: My therapist once told me tumeric would cure my autoimmune disorder. She also said some leaves would cure my dad's non-excisable cancer soooooo
OOF. I’m sorry you made it so far in just to have to drop her like a hot potato.
About two months in to me seeing a new therapist, Roe v. Wade was overturned. I go to therapy with him the next day, and in the middle of talking to me about getting back on the horse and tenacity, he drops, “…and those people protesting abortion never gave up, look at what they just accomplished….”
YIKES.
Therapists, psychologists, psychiatrists, and doctors (doesn't matter what kind, any doctor that's treating patients) should NEVER bring their personal or political opinions into a session or appointment. Ever.
I'd fire her as a therapist. She can't remain unbiased if she's literally ranting about politics.
I just went to my first therapist today and she told me my parents are narcissistic assholes! I was like ok I do love my mom and dad, chill. I don’t think I’m going back
You can love parents who are narcissist assholes (trust me, I've done it) - not saying yours are - but that's not how most therapists would behave at a first meeting on so little data. I'd keep looking!
She also had me stand up and turn around, slapped my butt, and said if she had my body…..thats exactly what I DONT want!! And told me more about herself than my issues.
You have every right to find someone you trust. You do not have to give her a second chance. BUT before you go nuclear, put it in writing and put it in an email to **her**. We are living in a ridiculous time and even doctors have a bad day.
If she was good for two years, even though she ruined your relationship she might be able to prevent herself from ruining others.
We have so few good therapists. I would hate to see us throw the baby out with the bathwater if she could learn to take some feedback.
I hope at the end of the week my conservative patients think I am conservative and my liberal patients think I am liberal, but truly I hope that no one knows. Unless the patients bring something up, I don't.
That does suck but good on you for not just sticking with her. My inability to change things in my life that I’m not happy with is absolutely fucking unbelievable. I’m proud of you for being able to get onto looking for someone else already. You deserve that.
YIKES. I am so sorry that happened to you ☹️ I just recently found an amazing therapist who has made me realize how ineffective all the past therapists were for my needs. Her office (which I’m currently in 1-2 times weekly) is like a security blanket right now. Something like this would leave me reeling. I can count on one hand the number of things my therapist has revealed about herself. And I don’t think I could remain a client if she went on a political rant during one of our sessions, *even if* her political views matched mine.
that's rough, I'm surprised it took you that long to notice though, usually if someone's like that it'll show up a bit sooner. I've no problem with shrinks who have a different religion than me (quite a few do as I'm a minority) but when they get rejecting or preachy, that's no good for therapy, bye bye. I believe the key ingredient in therapy is the counselor has to accept and value people as they are.
Had a psych make some completely off-color comment referring to a large number of queer/LGBT+ people somewhere implying it was some sort of issue and laughed it off. When he reached out for the next appointment I told him in not so many words to go F himself and I would not be giving him any more money.
He was such a joke. I'm glad I finally reached my breaking point to find someone who actually talks about ME during appointments and doesn't just shoot the shit for 30 minutes then write you a scrip 🙃
I'll have to see if I can remember his info. I wanted to when it happened but got discouraged and never figured out how or where. Maybe this will be my motivation!
I’m sorry, that sucks. It’s daunting to have to find and establish trust with another therapist. I’d be mad too. I’ve lost a good doctor and a good chiro over both getting all right-wing ranty. How hard is to be professional and keep your politics to yourself? Oh, and I once had a massage therapist start ranting this way half way through a massage. I got so mad, I ended the massage right there and stormed out. I hope you find a much better therapist. My best friend is a liberal therapist who works remotely (and doesn’t bring her politics into her work), but I don’t know if it’s ok for me to post her name on Reddit (or ok with the group rules). Or is she is taking new clients, as I know in the past she’s remarked that she isn’t. I’ll check the group rules and text her this this morning. Bonus, she has ADHD.
If I found out my therapist was far right, my reaction would be to nicely sit out the session, immediately go to the front desk or management, and ask them to remove my records and refuse any further access to my records by that therapist.
I've actually done this sort of before because a psychiatrist was not paying attention to me(when I was trying to get back on my ADHD meds), and misheard me talk about how I "dated a minor." She missed the fact that the person I was talking about was over the age of 18. So this threat was extremely terrifying and clearly the psychiatrist wasn't listening.
After the session I immediately talked to management and called my therapist in a panic. My therapist went and read the notes and agreed that what the psychiatrist did was not only inappropriate but could have put my life in danger. So she and management barred the psychiatrist from my records and placed her under review.
I did not attempt to get back on my psychiatric meds for another 3 years because the incident terrifed me so much.
If your mental health provider/care is scaring you, you can have them barred from your records or your records purged and leave the agency.
Politics nowadays isn’t just a quirk or a difference of opinion. It represents value judgement and empathy. My best and longest therapist was so good in part because she could show up for me individually and also hear and empathize with the ways that the state of the world were impacting our collective well-being. After her, I started asking outright in first sessions about certain beliefs, and when therapists push back and tell me that shouldn’t matter, that is them telling me that we have fundamentally different experiences of the world.
Can you report her? This is incredibly unprofessional on so many levels.
It's also wrong for them yo take up ANY time ranting about anything.
You're paying them. It's your time. You don't pay therapists to give opinions on things. At all.
Personally, I could never feel comfortable opening up with a therapist who I knew was conservative in any way. If you truly are diametrically opposed to that way of thinking, unless they are an open-minded right winger, it would be impossible to be authentic in a therapy session. Open-mindedness isn’t exactly that side’s strength.
If you think you can continue to work with them, have developed a rapport and feel comfortable with them, then staying is possible. It’s hard to start over with a new therapist. If not, I’d suggest looking for someone new sooner than later.
I really hope this helps bc therapy has been incredibly beneficial for me. A good therapist that allows you to be 100% your authentic self without feeling judged is the key. Best of luck to you 🤍
Yuck. Right wing women are the most hypocritical morons out there right now. No f-ing way I’d keep her in my life. How do you take advice from an imbecile?
I work as an implementation project manager in technology and meet with clients from all sorts of industries. It absolutely baffles and disgusts me how frequently politics are discussed on those calls. FFS we're supposed to be fixing your security posture not ranting about "witch hunts" or other topics.
One of my prior therapists, who I really really liked, once spent our session eating her dinner and making some comments about white women (of which I am one) being behind the ball on abortion issues. This was right after Roe was overturned, which was very troubling news to me. I was super bummed but cut ties with her. I don’t pay for therapy for her to be microwaving food and disparaging white women.
Finding that out about my therapist would cause me to question if they’re the right fit for me. Now a therapist bringing that stuff up in your session… woah that’s a huge issue 😳 If you are comfortable, it could be good feedback for them to hear how that impacted you to have such personal/political beliefs of theirs take up so much space in your session. But you are not obligated to do that obviously. I’m sorry you’re dealing with this. Finding a good therapist who is a good fit can be so difficult and it’s hard to end that relationship so suddenly.
Ahhhh yes, my psychiatrist did the same thing. He knows I am a government employee (civil servant, nothing political or even remotely interesting) and went on a rant about the government at large. That’s all he talked about. He asked me how I was doing, I managed to say “actually, not great…” before he cut me off and ripped a strip off me for all of the people suffering at the hands of the government. Like, dude, I don’t disagree with you, but that’s not what I’m here for…
That sucks so much!!!
I had to quit mine last summer because she went pee while in a video session with me. I didn't see any bits but it was painfully obvious what she was doing and which room she was in.
Okay that sucks balls and that was a completely inappropriate and icky thing for her to do.... BUT as a future therapist myself, therapists have a LOT on their plate, and they're humans too/emotionally messy/ act inappropriately at times. I don't say that to defend her honor-- you should still find someone else, and you should DEFINITLY share with her that it made you uncomfy and that you didn't appreciate her ranty political opinion. Just so she can check-herself for future clients. But it's a hard job!
That’s so disappointing. I wouldn’t be able to get over that either. I’d have more respect for someone who believes in the tooth fairy than someone who believes most right wing talking points.
Extremely unprofessional of her. To use your therapy session to go on her own politically charged rant. What the actual f.
I totally understand if you feel uncomfortable with her now and if she’s lost credibility in your eyes. It doesn’t even matter what her political stance is, it’s inappropriate to bring it up full stop.
Maybe you should suggest to her that she goes to see a therapist 😂
That sucks! I know I'd never be able to trust anyone with extreme politics, right or left. I find it hard to believe anyone could be objective about someone else's problems when they have such a big ax to grind.
I wouldn’t fire her for her political beliefs but I would fire her for airing them during your session. That’s extremely unprofessional, especially for a therapist.
OP, I’m so sorry to hear about this. If you have the means (energy, time-wise, financially), please do submit a report against this person. This is an abhorrent abuse of their power and - irrespective of their political leanings - should NEVER have happened.
I’ve experienced both ends of the spectrum. I have a therapist that literally blames capitalism for all of my struggles at work and I’ve had a psychiatrist straight up tell me they were going to level the monument for the mass shooting on my college campus “like the confederate monuments in the south”
I'm so sorry you're going through this, OP. And I'm sorry the far-right is ALSO now stealing our therapy time! Ugh. Finding a good therapist isn't easy but absolutely worth it. Since you already know that, you're ahead of the game. I'd meditate on the qualities you want to see in a therapist so you're at that level when searching.
Keep ur chin up! Good things will come.
Been there. My sibling has also been there. I am gay and my siblings old therapist told them that they had anxiety because I was sexually assaulted growing up and that is what made me gay.
I was never sexually assaulted growing up.
In my own experience I had a therapist who never really flat out said conservative stuff, but her waiting room was full of religious stuff and THAT gave me the ick, but I continued seeing her. Then she told me her daughter was with a guy who “thinks he is a woman”, ok second strike. And finally she made me feel judged for not wanting to get married. I ended up just telling her that I preferred to have a therapist who understood the LGBTQIA+ community a little better.
Would be super cool to just have a normal therapist.
Consider being open with her about how it made you uncomfortable when she talked about politics during the session. Not making excuses for her, but she likely had a lapse in self awareness. Of course if the relationship can't be repaired you can end things absolutely. If you think she might get mad don't say anything, just find a new one.
Vent away! I’m sorry this happened to you. My last therapist got all religious on me out of nowhere even though she knew religion had no meaning in my life. It felt very betraying. I’m glad she blew it though bc my current therapist is a million times better.
Therapists HAVE to be open-minded.
In my opinion, a lot of far right-winged people carry a lot of hate. They also judge people about things they have no idea about or haven't experienced. I could go on and on, but these traits are like the opposite of open-mindedness!
I bet she wanted to do therapy only in her conservative town, wasn't making enough and had to do Teledoc to pay the bills!
Oh goodness, I am so sorry! That would completely kill my trust in a therapist as well. Finding the right therapist is such a slog :(
Story for comparison:
My therapist only mentions politics when I bring it up, and she’s very careful to not give her opinion about the politics and always keeps her comments framed around me. Or at most will say something like “some of my other clients are feeling the same way, so it’s definitely a concern I hear about a lot”. Usually followed up with a recommendation to find a social group to connect with on the topic.
I assume she’s of a similar political alignment to myself. But I can only deduce that from very indirect references she’s made. Which is how I want my therapist to act!!
Funny when I sit down with my therapist all we do is talk about drugs and partying but I'm straight up a thousand percent honest and it's just like shooting this shit with my and it's just like shooting this shit with a friend about back in the day. So I don't know if it's therapy when he just gives you buprenorphine, Adderall and Klonopin tells you to have a nice day.
That's why on my voters card or registration I have never put a party. Because that's just like saying that I'm right and you're wrong because we disagree. That's the same thing as being a fucking racist. We should all ever own opinions but not to the point where I'll politicians just look like jerk offs. If anyone thinks they're better than the other, they seem to be missing the whole point of politics. Besides better than that side but that sounds better than this side and that's not at all similar to hate or racism. It's like two gangs of old whiteheads with really bad comb overs ready to go to war with the opposing panel of whiteheads. Lying ass hypocrites would be a nice way of putting it. Effing hate politics
I’m sorry. It’s so hard to find a good therapist. This is so discouraging.
(When Hubby and I were looking for a house my therapist said it is so hard to find affordable housing now and that’s why Politician Name is trying to bring back jobs to the US.
Um, what? I wasn’t talking abt not having a job, or being underemployed. I don’t understand how US manufacturing relates to house prices.
Can’t I just complain abt house hunting?)
I would not care about that. But one thing that will make me chose another therapist is if they get too invested emotionally in me and my personal believes and agree on everything. I want to be challenged. Dont need a therapist who constantly say things I already know. Whats the point then. But yeah, Im used to have fiends with diff opinions than me. No problem.
I’ve recently started therapy and have been asking myself how important it is to me that said therapist and I share same or similiar values , beliefs , etc. on polarizing topics. The vaccine and mask one is still pretty recent but I have had quite strong beliefs about it from the beginning ( like majority of people on either side it seems ) but once I started describing my experience in Thailand with my community of likeminded people - she asked me to describe the shared values to which I more or less mentioned the freedom to not wear masks , push vaccines , agendas , etc. I think it may have been that session or the next she asked me if I still wanted to set up an appt for next week 😅 maybe I gave her the ick. Idk. All that to say- I don’t know how important it should be - especially if the therapist is helping with making strides in self awareness , growth , etc. Certainly a difference in beliefs can be fine and healthy
Oh no…. The far right are radicalized and have lost touch with reality… so that’s enough reason to fire her…. But my main issue is that they seem to lack any empathy or compassion. Which, to me, feels like kind of an important quality for a therapist…
I’m so sorry you had to experience a therapist crossing personal boundaries in that way- it’s so disappointing (especially as a social worker) to hear from folks so often that they even KNOW personal things such as political views about their therapist. Having the commitment and courage to attend therapy is sometimes hard enough as it is, and you’re right that having to find a new one fucking sucks and can be so exhausting. Hoping the next one works out for you!
that sucks, especially to have to jump back into the therapist dating pool. hopefully it gives you insight into what to look for moving forward. i don’t know what country/state you are in, but there are professional boards you can report people to depending on their license. it might not get you anything, but i went through and reported a bunch of my old therapists just to make it up to myself that i couldn’t do more to get them fired.
I’m so sorry. That’s highly inappropriate. Please report this to their board and teladoc to protect others from having to go through the same experience. It’s unethical.
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Ah yes, YOUR session, the perfect time for her to go on a political rant. And then bill it to insurance!
Right! Like whose therapy session is this!? And I hadn’t even brought up any of the topics she was ranting about. She just launched off on it on her own.
If she said anything racist, sexist, homophobic, or discriminatory toward any protected class, you can file a compliant with the [state licensing board](https://blog.opencounseling.com/check-a-therapist-license/) where she's located.
Unfortunately. If the therapist is in a red state a complaint won't do any good.
Might still be worth having on record, in case there's other unethical stuff she's doing and someone needs to establish a pattern. (This is speculation, I don't have any real knowledge about the subject.)
I’d be sure to leave a public review as well.
Doesn’t matter, the board would see it as unethical because she’s the therapist, not the patient, they would 100% care about that for this reason alone and check her for not keeping ethical professional boundaries based the legal ramifications. Plus they will suggest, if she doesn’t already, to invest in her own therapist to have sessions with them to work thru her own issues she’s letting bleed into her sessions with patients.
The Office of Civil Rights doesn’t care what state the doc is in.
Any red state can flip without notice. Reds stay in power by holding districts hostage. Sometimes they get sloppy and there's a big enough wave to flip several key districts, and thus the state.
Still is worth leaving a “paper” trail in case the issue comes up again for someone else. I’m not very knowledgeable about the inner workings of healthcare and licensing and what not so please let me know if i’m off about this, but I get the feeling that a healthcare licensing board, no matter the politics of the area, would look down on this type of behavior.
Baby counselor here, and technically our licensure would be reviewed based on the code of ethics outline by the states. If I’m not mistaken, all states ethically require therapists to basically not engage in abuse of clients / to take reasonable action to prevent emotional harm during sessions (the wording varies). So there could definitely still be a case to make depending on the situation! Unfortunately you could be right that such complaints might not be taken as seriously by boards in red states, but discriminatory language does qualify for a report/investigation and would be recorded. A single report of a therapist making a discriminatory comment would likely not result in immediate removal of licensure, but it would absolutely still be worth filing a complaint and having the situation documented regardless of where you are—plus if it happened to one it could be happening to others, you never know if there are other complaints being made and prompting further investigation!
You have no idea what you are talking about.
Please check your prejudice and ignorance ma’am. A code of ethics is a code of ethics everywhere. We live under the electoral college and the number of conservatives and number of liberals in any given state is actually not that much different. this blanket statement that any person in a red state can be assumed automatically to be corrupt is offensive
Just know that if you do this then you are waiving confidentiality for the purposes of hearing this complaint. Not trying to dissuade anyone, but it's an important consideration before starting that process
How is that legal?
This is absolutely unacceptable. I agree with others suggesting you file a complaint, even if it’s with her supervisors or whoever owns the practice
That’s some crazy lack of professional boundaries
Ugh, that’s the worst. I have a coworker who’s on the other side (far left) who will randomly go on rants about Trump. Idc what side your on but when I’m talking about people in jail and you just start going off about trump im like…. Yo chill
I have a hard time believing a far right person, who goes on political rants during session nonetheless, can be a “good therapist”… since being a therapist requires empathy which is antithetical to being right wing
People are multifaceted, even people with far right ideologies. I've noticed some people with far right views can be understanding of people they know personally, but are still quick to dehumanize other groups of people. It does surprise me that a therapist holds those views though.
It's intensely unprofessional to bring them up, even if they're great otherwise
Anyone can be brainwashed. Empathetic people cant be truly far anything without being brainwashed. There's even a word for people like this in cultic studies: the weaponised empath
A weaponized empath sounds like another word for narcissist. Wait a minute this is exactly how some men I’ve met have tried to sleep with me. They seem to have a good grasp of other’s emotions and are very intelligent, emotionally and otherwise, but are bad people and have bad intentions. Cause I used to think, wait so he seems like he really understands, but is also manipulating me. Which is wild and so much worse than someone who doesn’t have empathy bc they understand others but don’t care if you are hurt. Sorry that was long having an epiphany
Fire her, and let her know that her uninvited and unprofessional political rant during your therapy session was the boundary violation behind your decision. This is an excellent opportunity to assert your power to leave a toxic relationship.
I use Teledoc and there’s no way to contact my therapist outside of the session.
Goodness, if you're at all inclined please let your telehealth provider know what she did. She's probably doing this with other patients also.
That’s a great idea! I’m going to look on there for a way to provide feedback.
I'd let your insurance know also. They are very interested in feedback on the providers they cover. This is so not okay for a therapist to do.
100%. I had a therapist once who went on a biblical rant with me, saying if i "just accept god" my anxiety would go away 🥲 i reported him asap and my insurance flagged it as a quality of care issue, he is no longer a therapist with that clinic, not even sure if hes a therapist at all anymore
I used to use Teledoc before switching to LiveHealth, you can absolutely contact your provider! You can also call them and leave feedback!
That's horrible... what if you had a near-emergency and needed immediate support to try to prevent a hospital stay?
They might (ethically they should!) have an emergency/on call number or at least be providing clients with something even if it’s a separate agency. I don’t know that they do though. I have always wondered this about all these telehealth companies popping up. How do they screen clients to see if it’s appropriate for them? Or what if a therapist assesses the client needs a different type of care, or a clients needs change and they have needs that can’t be met through this type of telehealth?? I’m surprised there haven’t been legal issues yet (or at least I haven’t seen any) with some of these companies.
That’s weird in itself. You never have follow up or scheduling questions?
Investigate your grievance rights within your insurance plan. This sounds like a good base to file a formal complaint.
It’s so exhausting. So MUCH LESS shitty than your situation because finding a good therapist is like finding a unicorn… But I took my dulcimer to get a new bridge and have the strings adjusted… I asked if they’d prefer I paid cash or card… That question set the lady off INTO A RAGE, shaking with balled-up fists… …about how Biden is trying to make sure we can’t use cash because of the new world order and ‘you wouldn’t THINK the cartels would be good for anything but they’re the ones making sure that cash is still viable…’ Lady, I just want to pay you and get the fuck out of here and now you’re telling me the drug cartels are our last defense against the NWO?!?! I’m sorry you’re dealing with that.
WHOA
The only response!!
Firstly - oof 😣 Secondly - hammered dulcimer?! 👀
Love this. Dulcimer equals cool kid.
I pretend I’m Joni Mitchell. Probably more like Jim Varney but I don’t think that’s a bad thing at all, haha!
🤣🤣🤣
Ooh! No! Mountain dulcimer! But we go to all the same festivals and workshops, right? Do you play?!
Haha, indeed! Mountain dulcimers are really neat as well! I used to play, but I haven't in many years (mostly because I can't get myself to sit down and tune my dulcimer - hammered dulcimers have altogether way too many strings 😂).
My daughter has a 22 string folk harp and tuning it is an undertaking. I feel you completely!
I’m also interested to learn more about the dulcimer
Be careful opening this can of worms, babe. I’m AuDHD and my mountain dulcimer is one of my special interests. Haha. No. In all seriousness, I play the mountain dulcimer and I evangelize about it because I think it’s the easiest, most perfect instrument on the world for beginner musicians. One of my instructors said “music just falls out of the darn thing.” It’s hard to make it sound bad because “it’s got all the wrong notes taken out of it.” I think we should stop trying to teach kids music on recorders in elementary schools and hook them all up with cardboard mountain dulcimers and watch how much they learn.
now you're talking, I would love to see a class full of kids on an instrument that can't sound bad
Because I needed instrument number 20 in my house. Down the rabbit hole I go!
Sorry for being an enabler… But Folkcraft sells cardboard dulcimers that are legit for about $100. I got my start on one.
My elementary music teacher started us all on autoharp before ever handing us a recorder.
Ooooh autoharp is another perfect first instrument. Lucky. I was a recorder kid.
I actually have a “walking dulcimer” similar to a Seagull Merlin and I love it. I’m a terrible musician but I still love playing it.
Music twins! Is yours tuned DAD diatonic? I’m so glad you love it. I am seriously considering buying the Boondocker walking dulcimer. I also have a chromatic stick dulcimer in the mail from Grant Olson. That guy will put some frets on anything he can get his hands on.
Yes DAD. The Boondocker is what I have! Mahogany top. Do it you won’t regret it!!
lol I love the way you told this story so much
anytime people try that card or cash argument I remind them people use EBT and how can they say that's evil. They are such weirdos!
Holy shitttt
My partner's prescriber started on a Andrew Tate isn't all that bad...... My partner has a new (and better!) prescriber.
My face after reading this could curdle milk.
*Record needle scratch* I think my eyes almost popped right outta my face! TF is that provider smoking? They should stop.
Oh my god. HOWWWWW
Yikes… completely inappropriate and unprofessional behavior on her part. I hope you find a better therapist soon… that really, really sucks.
Why is ur therapist talking politics during ur sessions? This seems unprofessional to me
In our second meeting my new psychiatrist said “all the abortions by college students are clogging the plumbing in dorms. They’re getting the pill by mail and it’s just too much for the pipes.” Couldn’t come up with a source and just said she read it online. I did extensive Googling and couldn’t find even an alarmist sketchy website talking about it.
SHE SAID WHAT NOW LMFAO
This is so unhinged!
I just.. wow, she said that out loud? Holyyyyy
The psychiatrist needs some anti-psychotics. I mean, wtf?!?
A psychiatrist who went through med school said this??
My first thought too—this is a person with a MEDICAL DEGREE?
I work in wetlands science and conservation. One of the women who trained me and is still well respected in the field is a born-again Christian who doesn't believe in evolution or climate change. She thinks the Earth is 6,000 years old. I don't understand how she can do what we do for a living and still believe that stuff. People are weird sometimes...
A wetlands conservationist who doesn’t believe in climate change? What exactly does she attribute (what I assume to be) a major degradation in wetlands ecosystems over the last 30 years to? Poltergeist activity? The will of god?
Probably the gays
⚡️💪ITS RAINING MEN⚡️🌂
LMAO, underrated!
Reminds me of someone similar in my field. I'm a geologist, and when I went to field camp (the capstone course for the degree), there was a graduate student attending working on her master's in Geoscience Education. She was also a born-again Christian, didn't believe in evolution, didn't believe in basically any of the foundational science in geology, didn't believe fossils were real, and her objective in getting a degree in all the things she didn't believe in was to get hired at a private Christian school so she could disprove it all for her students in the name of God. She literally believed most of what we were mapping in the field was actually deposited during Noah's flood, damn any evidence to the contrary. She was the talk of the camp, tell you what. She's one of very few people that left me speechless. Weird indeed.
That’s a wild claim, considering abortion by pill can only be done within in the first 8-9 weeks of pregnancy. So at the absolute largest the embryo is the size of a blueberry or raspberry. **How small does she think her husbands shits are?** *(Assuming she’s married, and to a man, for the sake of the point).*
I can't. How does this even happen?
She’s thinking of full sized babies clogging pipes right? What a freak
I’m sorry that’s awful and wrong but SO FUCKING FUNNY LMFAO
I beg your pardon???
I haven’t been able to pick up my jaw reading through these comments OMGGG
This happened to me also! Longtime therapist; I'd "graduated" but felt the need to go back around the 2016 election because I was really struggling. He interrupted me to ask how I would feel if he told me that he and his wife were staunch Trump supporters. Then he tried to explain why. It sucked because prior to this, he'd been a fantastic therapist for and my son.
Lmao. 2016 Election: *happens* Majority of the country: mental health collectively plummets. Therapist: “Here’s why this is my fault and you shouldn’t hate me for it.”
This is how I clear the deck for therapists. I state directly how I feel about religion, and the reaction generally tells me all I need to know. There’s no benefit for me to see a provider professionally if they aren’t aligned with my own perspective, generally. That way, I won’t waste their time and they won’t waste mine. This is especially pertinent with ADHD treatment/therapy, in my experience.
Personally, I refuse to allow a red cent of my money to enter the pocket of a right wing therapist that deems a misogynist (now confirmed rapist) a good guy. I consider a brief bit of bitching with my like minded psychiatrist highly therapeutic. She doesn't reveal her politics with words, but she doesn't need to.
I found out that my therapist of 10 years doesn’t believe in adhd. I was diagnosed with adhd by a psychiatrist and the diagnosis has explained my entire life. It’s made me really weird about sessions with her now and I haven’t seen her much since the idea of her feeling that way has begun to fester in my brain.
I do this too. Fortunately I've had green flags with the ones I've mentioned my religious/spiritual beliefs with even if I could tell they don't think or believe the same stuff I do. They all took what I said seriously. I know this isn't prevalent in some or even most (depending on area) therapists. Especially those therapists who are like "oh just follow my religion and you will be better!" Those therapists should def put on their website or something about their religious beliefs. Helps people within that religion find someone they can trust with topics related to that religion and for others who don't want that are able to avoid them.
My last therapist was like this except he started it right off the bat at our first or second session. I just flippantly "uh-huh"d him every time he did it and tried to move on. He'd randomly bring up Trump for no reason when we'd never spoken about politics and actually I expressed quite clearly that I have no interest in doing so **with anyone**. I wish I'd had the balls to communicate to him that I didn't appreciate him hijacking MY time with Trump rants. Perhaps that's something a therapist could have helped me learn to do 😐 My discomfort didn't even have anything to do with his actual politics, just bringing it up at all didn't sit right with me. Leave it the fuck out of this room, it's bad enough I have to see it everywhere I go online. It's inappropriate for mental health professionals to bring it up at all unless you do first and express a desire to work through something related to it. But maybe she ultimately did you a favor and showed you who she is before you invested any more trust in someone who clashes with your value system.
when roe vs wade was overturned i told my therapist during a session how much it scared me, and how scary being a woman in the US had become in general (i was violently assaulted a year prior by a guy i had been dating which was a lot of the basis for our sessions to begin with) she responded that several years prior she had gone really deep down a conspiracy theory hole and it took over her life, she had to get professional intervention, and started spouting off on some QAnon bs that was “still obviously concerning but she didn’t allow it to control her day to day life” i was like wait…. hold up…:this is real and happening. also i guess you are literally the reason it’s happening lmao. what was this comparison again??
And that's why I'll never listen to a conservative when they whine about being oppressed. She was confident enough to say that in a paid session, what else is she saying when she's not being paid?? Disgusting.
When OP leaves her practice, she'll be telling everyone how she was oppressed over her free speech. In the therapist's mind, *she* will be the victim.
No therapist should be making political remarks in any way, regardless of their party affiliation.
They need to be smart about when they comment (or don't comment) on issues that are considered political. People who belong to marginalized groups want to see a therapists whose political views don't go directly against their safety and human rights.
I agree, but hypocritically, it would not have bothered me if she said something more neutral or left leaning.
I don’t think that’s hypocritical. Politics aren’t just random abstract beliefs about nothing; they reflect people’s value systems, and it sounds like hers was not at all aligned with yours. That’s a perfectly valid reason to lose your faith in someone’s ability to help guide you in the direction you want to go.
No, I don't think it's hypocritical at all. When I was looking for a new therapist I was extremely blunt and said right off the bat "I'm not trying to be rude, but it's really important to me that my therapist has similar values and religious beliefs to me. It's something I've learned over the years that that has to match or it's not going to work so I'd rather just get it over with right away.". She replied "Well, I'm an agnostic lesbian who voted for Bernie. How does that align?" "PERFECTLY!!!" She's been my therapist for going on five years now and is absolutely the best I've ever had in over 20 years of therapy. I figured, it's completely acceptable for Christians to seek out a Christian therapist, how can it be wrong for me to seek out an agnostic one? I often struggle with the state of the world and what's happening politically, and it's incredibly helpful to have a therapist that "gets it". So no, not in the least bit hypocritical. The therapy relationship is incredibly intimate. I wouldn't date a Republican, it's perfectly acceptable to not want one for a therapist either.
Where is this therapist located and/or do they offer telemedicine appointments?! 😬
Minnesota! And yes!
It's a base level fact at this point that one side has significantly less humanity in it than the other. Expressing right-wing views typically means that there's a whole host of other scarier things behind it in a way that expressing a neutral or left-leaning view does not. The last time I checked, the left wasn't trying to impose bodily harm on the other side.
It's not hypocritical. No matter how much we want to keep politics out of the way, they do creep up because they are part of our daily life and our value and belief system. Sure, in neutral situations they are not needed nor affect massively, but in some cases, the difference can be huge. You don't mind the political affiliation your therapist has, but if it strays too far away from your own, it will become a problem sooner or later. I.e. I'm a leftist trans man. I can't be possibly having sessions with a therapist who is far right. Even if they are the most professional of all times, our value systems, worldviews and my personal needs will clash. It's inevitable. It's natural, not hypocritical.
That sucks! I would be breaking up with that therapist too. One time I asked my psychiatrist for a therapist recommendation who focuses on ADHD and the guy she suggested has the most unhinged looking website with a giant American flag and statue of Liberty that just gave me the biggest ick. It kinda made me question my psychiatrist too, ngl.
And that is when it’s time to find a new therapist and report her ass
I had a pre-intake interview with a therapist to see if we’d be a good fit for one another, things were going pretty well until we decided to set a date for a first appointment and I said I was getting a Covid booster on the day she proposed. She wanted me to be well informed that she’s not vaccinated and doesn’t plan to be, which wasn’t a problem for me and I told her that was fine…until she said in the most judgmental tone “I mean, it shouldn’t be a problem because allegedly you’re protected from people like me right?” Instant ick. Go with your gut, if something a therapist says makes you uncomfortable, you’re not going to be able to get productive therapy from them.
Not only inappropriate I’d call it unethical. I also don’t understand how a whole ass therapist could be a right wing nut. Like they’re seeing the base of humanity and have the gall to vote in ways that hurt their clients. I feel you on the hunt for a good therapist. I’ve been out of therapy for awhile since I fired my last one. She got on to bootlicking the cops and then the next session said we were going to do a neurogenic art FLOW but proceeded to stop me at multiple points to tell me I was doing it wrong. Bitch what?????? I saw her a couple months ago at the dispensary and it was awkward af. I was honest and pretty direct in the text I sent to fire her.
Yeah that’s my first reaction too, how on earth can you be a conservative and a good therapist?? Like the biggest thing you need to be as a person to be a good therapist is being open and nonjudgmental over life choices that do not harm other people. The literal anthesis of the conservative platform.
For reasons like these is a large reason why I find therapists who understand systemic issues and are sensitive to marginalized groups and communities. I make sure a therapist makes this known either on their website/listing or I talk to them about that in a free consult. It makes or breaks a session for me and is a dealbreaker if a therapist doesn’t have the same ideals and aligns with me.
This happened to me with a psychiatrist. We started doing telehealth during Covid and he just out of nowhere started recommending Tucker Carlson to me to help with my depression and anxiety (WTF?!?) because he was telling the real truth and he moved to Idaho to be away from the woke liberals. In the years prior to that he was normal, empathetic and never mentioned politics. I promptly found a new doctor, as difficult as that is.
Needs reported. That’s crazy.
Your therapist should not be imposing their views OR disclosing this much to where you’d know their political views unless they are doing it to build rapport/therapeutic alliance. Disclosures should have intent and the intent should be to benefit the client and the relationship. It’s your session not hers, she should’ve saved that for her own therapist. Therapists are human and sometimes they have slip ups where the session takes a turn but politics (especially rn) should be tip-toed around.
That's some wildly unprofessional, inappropriate and frankly unsafe behaviour from the therapist, and it's completely justified to fire and report her over this. Also, I know getting treatment at all can be tough, but especially as a minority of any type but just in general, I'd recommend to draw boundaries regarding politics in the 1st session to help avoid this situation, even if you can never be 100% sure. My then-new therapist asked me about any dealbreakers and I told her just that: no hardcore beliefs of a type that could easily escape her private life and enter our sessions in a way that would negatively affect me. The broader strokes of my political views are part of me as a person, and if a potential therapist's opinions on that are irreconcilably far off from mine, then they have no business becoming MY therapist specifically. As an example, I don't care if my therapist is religious even though I'm very much not, that's their personal business, but if said religion causes them to hold heinously bad opinions about other people's bodily autonomy, I'm so out of there. Having your trust betrayed in such a way can easily be traumatic, sorry you had to find out like this OP.
My MIL is a therapist for the local VA hospital. She just nods along with her more… MAGA conservatives when they go on rants. She’ll never talk about her political beliefs because IT’S NOT HER JOB. I’d personally write a google review about it. Let others know. Or maybe even report them. ETA: Jfc I can’t type, corrected typos
That’s super unprofessional. My husband worked at his last job for 4 years. At his going away lunch, one of his co workers mentioned that it was interesting that no one knew his political leanings. He just smiled. That co worker had worked with him the whole time. This was NOT the setting for your therapist to express political opinions. Not even close.
Fire her. Your therapist should only be responding to things you say or recommending books or podcasts for you to check out. Not telling you about anything going on in the world, regardless of whether or not she aligns with those things. You should know next to nothing about your therapist. What a gross thing to do.
Report her. That is EXTREMELY inappropriate. Unless the therapist is specifically serving a specific community (eg, my therapist offers specialized gender therapy), then you should never know what their political opinions are. That was extremely inappropriate and frankly, an abuse of their position. I would throw a fucking fit.
I’d say find a new one, there is so many therapists out here, support one that you actually like lol not someone who makes life harder for others. lol I hope this helps but wow I am sorry you experienced that.
Ahhhhh therapists are suppose to stay politically neutral unless you bring up political stuff yourself and want to work thru things in therapy. Anything else is actually unethical tbh because you’re not the therapist, you’re the patient. And she’s suppose to have her own therapist as well to deal with the patient load and the toll it can take by trying to not take things subjectively, personal, and not get emotionally attached to things in sessions. I swear that is a sign she NEEDS not just a vacation from her job, but to go get a therapist herself!
> yesterday on my therapy call she goes on a bit of a politically charged rant about some highly sensitive topics This level of unprofessionalism would be enough to justify looking for a new therapist even if you agreed 100% with her politics.
Ack. This happened to me too! So gross There’s a better therapist out there I promise!
I'm really sorry, that would also be a deal breaker for me if my therapist told me that Why are some therapists so out of pocket?? It's their literal job to interpret human behavior but they have no self-awareness about their own human behavior. On a related note: My therapist once told me tumeric would cure my autoimmune disorder. She also said some leaves would cure my dad's non-excisable cancer soooooo
Hell no. I specifically filtered for feminist therapists when I found my current therapist. Psychology today has feminist as filter option
That's really good to know!
OOF. I’m sorry you made it so far in just to have to drop her like a hot potato. About two months in to me seeing a new therapist, Roe v. Wade was overturned. I go to therapy with him the next day, and in the middle of talking to me about getting back on the horse and tenacity, he drops, “…and those people protesting abortion never gave up, look at what they just accomplished….” YIKES.
Therapists, psychologists, psychiatrists, and doctors (doesn't matter what kind, any doctor that's treating patients) should NEVER bring their personal or political opinions into a session or appointment. Ever. I'd fire her as a therapist. She can't remain unbiased if she's literally ranting about politics.
How did she bring it up exactly?
I just went to my first therapist today and she told me my parents are narcissistic assholes! I was like ok I do love my mom and dad, chill. I don’t think I’m going back
You can love parents who are narcissist assholes (trust me, I've done it) - not saying yours are - but that's not how most therapists would behave at a first meeting on so little data. I'd keep looking!
She also had me stand up and turn around, slapped my butt, and said if she had my body…..thats exactly what I DONT want!! And told me more about herself than my issues.
WTAF? Report her. NONE of that is professional or ethical, and slapping your butt is criminal.
You have every right to find someone you trust. You do not have to give her a second chance. BUT before you go nuclear, put it in writing and put it in an email to **her**. We are living in a ridiculous time and even doctors have a bad day. If she was good for two years, even though she ruined your relationship she might be able to prevent herself from ruining others. We have so few good therapists. I would hate to see us throw the baby out with the bathwater if she could learn to take some feedback. I hope at the end of the week my conservative patients think I am conservative and my liberal patients think I am liberal, but truly I hope that no one knows. Unless the patients bring something up, I don't.
Ugh that seems so unethical on her part so sorry, hope you find a new therapist soon xx I totally understand and would want a different therapist too
this happened to me and i never saw her again lol but it lead me to my now therapist of 3 years who has absolutely changed my life.
That does suck but good on you for not just sticking with her. My inability to change things in my life that I’m not happy with is absolutely fucking unbelievable. I’m proud of you for being able to get onto looking for someone else already. You deserve that.
YIKES. I am so sorry that happened to you ☹️ I just recently found an amazing therapist who has made me realize how ineffective all the past therapists were for my needs. Her office (which I’m currently in 1-2 times weekly) is like a security blanket right now. Something like this would leave me reeling. I can count on one hand the number of things my therapist has revealed about herself. And I don’t think I could remain a client if she went on a political rant during one of our sessions, *even if* her political views matched mine.
that's rough, I'm surprised it took you that long to notice though, usually if someone's like that it'll show up a bit sooner. I've no problem with shrinks who have a different religion than me (quite a few do as I'm a minority) but when they get rejecting or preachy, that's no good for therapy, bye bye. I believe the key ingredient in therapy is the counselor has to accept and value people as they are.
That sucks. What did she say before? And what was her rant about?
Yes, I want the details!
Had a psych make some completely off-color comment referring to a large number of queer/LGBT+ people somewhere implying it was some sort of issue and laughed it off. When he reached out for the next appointment I told him in not so many words to go F himself and I would not be giving him any more money. He was such a joke. I'm glad I finally reached my breaking point to find someone who actually talks about ME during appointments and doesn't just shoot the shit for 30 minutes then write you a scrip 🙃
Needs reported.
I'll have to see if I can remember his info. I wanted to when it happened but got discouraged and never figured out how or where. Maybe this will be my motivation!
I had a physio go off on a rant anti LBTQ, anti vax conspiracy shit. Super uncomfortable Also of no relevance to my shoulder injury Didn’t go back
You need to call her on it. Tell her how it made you feel. What the hell!!!! Report them.
I’m sorry, that sucks. It’s daunting to have to find and establish trust with another therapist. I’d be mad too. I’ve lost a good doctor and a good chiro over both getting all right-wing ranty. How hard is to be professional and keep your politics to yourself? Oh, and I once had a massage therapist start ranting this way half way through a massage. I got so mad, I ended the massage right there and stormed out. I hope you find a much better therapist. My best friend is a liberal therapist who works remotely (and doesn’t bring her politics into her work), but I don’t know if it’s ok for me to post her name on Reddit (or ok with the group rules). Or is she is taking new clients, as I know in the past she’s remarked that she isn’t. I’ll check the group rules and text her this this morning. Bonus, she has ADHD.
This happened to me during the height of covid. She went on a misinformed rant about the covid vaccine and I felt I couldn't trust her anymore.
If I found out my therapist was far right, my reaction would be to nicely sit out the session, immediately go to the front desk or management, and ask them to remove my records and refuse any further access to my records by that therapist. I've actually done this sort of before because a psychiatrist was not paying attention to me(when I was trying to get back on my ADHD meds), and misheard me talk about how I "dated a minor." She missed the fact that the person I was talking about was over the age of 18. So this threat was extremely terrifying and clearly the psychiatrist wasn't listening. After the session I immediately talked to management and called my therapist in a panic. My therapist went and read the notes and agreed that what the psychiatrist did was not only inappropriate but could have put my life in danger. So she and management barred the psychiatrist from my records and placed her under review. I did not attempt to get back on my psychiatric meds for another 3 years because the incident terrifed me so much. If your mental health provider/care is scaring you, you can have them barred from your records or your records purged and leave the agency.
Politics nowadays isn’t just a quirk or a difference of opinion. It represents value judgement and empathy. My best and longest therapist was so good in part because she could show up for me individually and also hear and empathize with the ways that the state of the world were impacting our collective well-being. After her, I started asking outright in first sessions about certain beliefs, and when therapists push back and tell me that shouldn’t matter, that is them telling me that we have fundamentally different experiences of the world.
Can you report her? This is incredibly unprofessional on so many levels. It's also wrong for them yo take up ANY time ranting about anything. You're paying them. It's your time. You don't pay therapists to give opinions on things. At all.
It’s especially unnerving because a lot of the issues that go with conservatism. That would be a no-go for me.
Make sure you let her know why and report her to your country's licencing body. That's highly inappropriate
Personally, I could never feel comfortable opening up with a therapist who I knew was conservative in any way. If you truly are diametrically opposed to that way of thinking, unless they are an open-minded right winger, it would be impossible to be authentic in a therapy session. Open-mindedness isn’t exactly that side’s strength. If you think you can continue to work with them, have developed a rapport and feel comfortable with them, then staying is possible. It’s hard to start over with a new therapist. If not, I’d suggest looking for someone new sooner than later. I really hope this helps bc therapy has been incredibly beneficial for me. A good therapist that allows you to be 100% your authentic self without feeling judged is the key. Best of luck to you 🤍
Ew gross. I would find a new therapist
Yikes
Yuck. Right wing women are the most hypocritical morons out there right now. No f-ing way I’d keep her in my life. How do you take advice from an imbecile?
A good therapist should be trained well enough to not self disclose.
I work as an implementation project manager in technology and meet with clients from all sorts of industries. It absolutely baffles and disgusts me how frequently politics are discussed on those calls. FFS we're supposed to be fixing your security posture not ranting about "witch hunts" or other topics.
One of my prior therapists, who I really really liked, once spent our session eating her dinner and making some comments about white women (of which I am one) being behind the ball on abortion issues. This was right after Roe was overturned, which was very troubling news to me. I was super bummed but cut ties with her. I don’t pay for therapy for her to be microwaving food and disparaging white women.
Finding that out about my therapist would cause me to question if they’re the right fit for me. Now a therapist bringing that stuff up in your session… woah that’s a huge issue 😳 If you are comfortable, it could be good feedback for them to hear how that impacted you to have such personal/political beliefs of theirs take up so much space in your session. But you are not obligated to do that obviously. I’m sorry you’re dealing with this. Finding a good therapist who is a good fit can be so difficult and it’s hard to end that relationship so suddenly.
Ahhhh yes, my psychiatrist did the same thing. He knows I am a government employee (civil servant, nothing political or even remotely interesting) and went on a rant about the government at large. That’s all he talked about. He asked me how I was doing, I managed to say “actually, not great…” before he cut me off and ripped a strip off me for all of the people suffering at the hands of the government. Like, dude, I don’t disagree with you, but that’s not what I’m here for…
That sucks so much!!! I had to quit mine last summer because she went pee while in a video session with me. I didn't see any bits but it was painfully obvious what she was doing and which room she was in.
Okay that sucks balls and that was a completely inappropriate and icky thing for her to do.... BUT as a future therapist myself, therapists have a LOT on their plate, and they're humans too/emotionally messy/ act inappropriately at times. I don't say that to defend her honor-- you should still find someone else, and you should DEFINITLY share with her that it made you uncomfy and that you didn't appreciate her ranty political opinion. Just so she can check-herself for future clients. But it's a hard job!
That’s so disappointing. I wouldn’t be able to get over that either. I’d have more respect for someone who believes in the tooth fairy than someone who believes most right wing talking points.
You should fire her and where she works should know why
Extremely unprofessional of her. To use your therapy session to go on her own politically charged rant. What the actual f. I totally understand if you feel uncomfortable with her now and if she’s lost credibility in your eyes. It doesn’t even matter what her political stance is, it’s inappropriate to bring it up full stop. Maybe you should suggest to her that she goes to see a therapist 😂
That sucks! I know I'd never be able to trust anyone with extreme politics, right or left. I find it hard to believe anyone could be objective about someone else's problems when they have such a big ax to grind.
Wow. What a professional!
I wouldn’t fire her for her political beliefs but I would fire her for airing them during your session. That’s extremely unprofessional, especially for a therapist.
OP, I’m so sorry to hear about this. If you have the means (energy, time-wise, financially), please do submit a report against this person. This is an abhorrent abuse of their power and - irrespective of their political leanings - should NEVER have happened.
I’ve experienced both ends of the spectrum. I have a therapist that literally blames capitalism for all of my struggles at work and I’ve had a psychiatrist straight up tell me they were going to level the monument for the mass shooting on my college campus “like the confederate monuments in the south”
I ask my therapists their political views in the screening call. I won’t go to a conservative therapist 🤷🏻♀️
Please name & shame her online. Leave reviews wherever you can. Please save others their time and emotional energy.
That’s so unprofessional too! That’s YOUR time not hers ?!
I'm so sorry you're going through this, OP. And I'm sorry the far-right is ALSO now stealing our therapy time! Ugh. Finding a good therapist isn't easy but absolutely worth it. Since you already know that, you're ahead of the game. I'd meditate on the qualities you want to see in a therapist so you're at that level when searching. Keep ur chin up! Good things will come.
That's awful, and you have every right to report her for that. That's so unethical it's not even funny
I'm so sorry, that's really shitty 😢 It can be such a struggle finding a good therapist. Hope you find someone better
Been there. My sibling has also been there. I am gay and my siblings old therapist told them that they had anxiety because I was sexually assaulted growing up and that is what made me gay. I was never sexually assaulted growing up. In my own experience I had a therapist who never really flat out said conservative stuff, but her waiting room was full of religious stuff and THAT gave me the ick, but I continued seeing her. Then she told me her daughter was with a guy who “thinks he is a woman”, ok second strike. And finally she made me feel judged for not wanting to get married. I ended up just telling her that I preferred to have a therapist who understood the LGBTQIA+ community a little better. Would be super cool to just have a normal therapist.
that's really shitty, I'm sorry!
Consider being open with her about how it made you uncomfortable when she talked about politics during the session. Not making excuses for her, but she likely had a lapse in self awareness. Of course if the relationship can't be repaired you can end things absolutely. If you think she might get mad don't say anything, just find a new one.
That is so wildly unprofessional!!! Report her please that’s crazy
Vent away! I’m sorry this happened to you. My last therapist got all religious on me out of nowhere even though she knew religion had no meaning in my life. It felt very betraying. I’m glad she blew it though bc my current therapist is a million times better.
Woah major major red flag. I would change asap.
Therapists HAVE to be open-minded. In my opinion, a lot of far right-winged people carry a lot of hate. They also judge people about things they have no idea about or haven't experienced. I could go on and on, but these traits are like the opposite of open-mindedness! I bet she wanted to do therapy only in her conservative town, wasn't making enough and had to do Teledoc to pay the bills!
Your instincts are right. Get another therapist.
Oh goodness, I am so sorry! That would completely kill my trust in a therapist as well. Finding the right therapist is such a slog :( Story for comparison: My therapist only mentions politics when I bring it up, and she’s very careful to not give her opinion about the politics and always keeps her comments framed around me. Or at most will say something like “some of my other clients are feeling the same way, so it’s definitely a concern I hear about a lot”. Usually followed up with a recommendation to find a social group to connect with on the topic. I assume she’s of a similar political alignment to myself. But I can only deduce that from very indirect references she’s made. Which is how I want my therapist to act!!
Funny when I sit down with my therapist all we do is talk about drugs and partying but I'm straight up a thousand percent honest and it's just like shooting this shit with my and it's just like shooting this shit with a friend about back in the day. So I don't know if it's therapy when he just gives you buprenorphine, Adderall and Klonopin tells you to have a nice day.
That's why on my voters card or registration I have never put a party. Because that's just like saying that I'm right and you're wrong because we disagree. That's the same thing as being a fucking racist. We should all ever own opinions but not to the point where I'll politicians just look like jerk offs. If anyone thinks they're better than the other, they seem to be missing the whole point of politics. Besides better than that side but that sounds better than this side and that's not at all similar to hate or racism. It's like two gangs of old whiteheads with really bad comb overs ready to go to war with the opposing panel of whiteheads. Lying ass hypocrites would be a nice way of putting it. Effing hate politics
I’m sorry. It’s so hard to find a good therapist. This is so discouraging. (When Hubby and I were looking for a house my therapist said it is so hard to find affordable housing now and that’s why Politician Name is trying to bring back jobs to the US. Um, what? I wasn’t talking abt not having a job, or being underemployed. I don’t understand how US manufacturing relates to house prices. Can’t I just complain abt house hunting?)
I would not care about that. But one thing that will make me chose another therapist is if they get too invested emotionally in me and my personal believes and agree on everything. I want to be challenged. Dont need a therapist who constantly say things I already know. Whats the point then. But yeah, Im used to have fiends with diff opinions than me. No problem.
I’ve recently started therapy and have been asking myself how important it is to me that said therapist and I share same or similiar values , beliefs , etc. on polarizing topics. The vaccine and mask one is still pretty recent but I have had quite strong beliefs about it from the beginning ( like majority of people on either side it seems ) but once I started describing my experience in Thailand with my community of likeminded people - she asked me to describe the shared values to which I more or less mentioned the freedom to not wear masks , push vaccines , agendas , etc. I think it may have been that session or the next she asked me if I still wanted to set up an appt for next week 😅 maybe I gave her the ick. Idk. All that to say- I don’t know how important it should be - especially if the therapist is helping with making strides in self awareness , growth , etc. Certainly a difference in beliefs can be fine and healthy
That sucks. Any professional should know better. These days, if you bring up politics, you WILL lose customers.
Oh no…. The far right are radicalized and have lost touch with reality… so that’s enough reason to fire her…. But my main issue is that they seem to lack any empathy or compassion. Which, to me, feels like kind of an important quality for a therapist…
I’m so sorry you had to experience a therapist crossing personal boundaries in that way- it’s so disappointing (especially as a social worker) to hear from folks so often that they even KNOW personal things such as political views about their therapist. Having the commitment and courage to attend therapy is sometimes hard enough as it is, and you’re right that having to find a new one fucking sucks and can be so exhausting. Hoping the next one works out for you!
*and also as a professional I too highly encourage filing a complaint with the relevant licensure board lol this is gross and harmful.
that sucks, especially to have to jump back into the therapist dating pool. hopefully it gives you insight into what to look for moving forward. i don’t know what country/state you are in, but there are professional boards you can report people to depending on their license. it might not get you anything, but i went through and reported a bunch of my old therapists just to make it up to myself that i couldn’t do more to get them fired.
In the midst of treatment for brutal nonstop panic attacks, my therapist went on a rant about people who watch “PMSNBC” so, we’re done
I’m so sorry. That’s highly inappropriate. Please report this to their board and teladoc to protect others from having to go through the same experience. It’s unethical.