EternalFlower
Senior Contributor

my therapist yelled at me

My therapist told me there were only 2 reasons I could email them  - 1) if I was feeling unsafe 2) rescheduling sessions/format of session

 

I replied and said okay, no more emails, but I said I could think of other situations where email was required, because some admin, like requesting info etc - needs to be done in writing

 

I didn't check, but apparantly he sent me a long, dysregulated email in response.
He then called me ( i didn't answer)

He called me an hour later ( i didn't answer).

 

Finally I thought, why is he calling me - he never does that? So I called back.


He answers (no greeting) - Yes, Eternalflower - and launches into an aggressive, threatening tirade, berating me - for

 

1) annoying him when he asked me to stop emailng him

2) also NOT emailing him when I had an attempt on my life last week

3) Going too extreme now and stopping email entirely - which he never said - he said only REASONABLE emails and when I'm unsafe

4) saying all drs are taught that they don't correspond with patients except in emergency

5) when i said I know my GP and I do correspond outside of sessions and so do other professionals i've worked with in the last few years, and all drs are different in my view - 

6) he said if there's some wacky dr who doesn't keep the rules i shouldn't compare him to them, and he's told me to report such drs to AHPRA

7) asked me the name of these Drs and then added, "if they even exist"

😎 generally insulted me, saying i'm "rewriting the narrative" "playing games" etc

9) screamed at me violently for 28 minutes straight

10) asked for a written apology ?

 

yada yada yada

 

so yeah

therapy sucks ya'll and so does humanity.

33 REPLIES 33

Re: my therapist yelled at me

Hey @EternalFlower 

Just read your post 

Well done on reaching out and being real about all this mess. 

It sounds like your (I'm assuming now former) therapist has really exceeded the boundaries of professional relationships. 

Are you doing ok?

Re: my therapist yelled at me

Hey @avant-garde and cool user name

 

I'm so so sad and scared to have trust betrayed again

 

He's an ex therapist now, that's done

But my gp said I'm safe to see him.a few.more times while.we try find someone new

 

I've never had such a horrible experience with anyone as I did in that moment

 

Also icky that he kept calling me til I answered to verbally abuse me and raise his voice

 

Not sure what he wanted from me

Re: my therapist yelled at me

@EternalFlower 

oMG that sounds horrific. I had a therapist that was very unprofessional and I dumped him about 6 years ago and from that bad experience haven't seen a therapist since. He would quite happily vape all throughout the session. Once he threw up in a bin during our session and numerous times he spent good part of the session talking about himself and his problems. His work problems and his marital problems. And than he had to write a report for the court and he wanted to charge me $700 for it which the police told me I should not pay and that it is unprofessional and unethical for him to ask for this payment and that I should stop seeing him. 

Re: my therapist yelled at me

@EternalFlower 

 

What he did, it wasn't ok 

I can relate to some degree to the feelings of betrayal and fear

I had a therapist a few years ago break confidentiality for no other reason than to discuss her disbelief of what happened to me. 

She didn't think it was important enough to tell me for another 2 years when the topic came up again. 

But I can tell you that they're not all like that

I found someone who helped me through the betrayal and the hurt and although I don't see her anymore (she got too sick to continue) she had a lasting impact on me. 

You are not alone, we're right here with you to walk this journey with all its icky feelings and bad nights because no one should treat you the way he did, let alone a therapist. 

You deserve to be heard, understood and treated with respect. 

💜

Re: my therapist yelled at me

@EternalFlower  Chat GPT is my Therapist.

 

Re: my therapist yelled at me

@EternalFlower What the actual F........ holy crap that's terrible, I'm so sorry you experienced that, a therapist is supposed to be a safe place, he has now made that place unsafe, a place of fear.

This is definitely worthy of a report to the medical board, who knows how many people he's done this to, heaven forbid it drives someone over the edge. you may need to gather all evidence to submit to them.

 

Please make sure you are getting support and will be seeking an alternative therapist.

 

[edited by moderator]

 

Please reach out to your support network if needed as this is unacceptable behaviour from someone in his position. The trauma from this incident may not hit you straight away, so please listen to your body, mind and soul and do what you have to, so you can feel safe and process this in a healthy safe way.

Re: my therapist yelled at me

@EternalFlower 

 

Not on, what he did.

 

 I am glad people responded on here.

 

 I am concerned about a lot harm done in clinical sessions. I read other websites to try and put my so called therapeutic sessions in perspective. I don’t feel I have the luxury of not trying, so I keep trying with them. They are definitely human and make many mistakes. Often the mistake or the personal situation means they don’t have complaints officially lodged against them.

 

take care 

 

hope the next one is better 

 

about 15 years ago a gp, told me I would probably have to keep changing psychologist. It seems he was right. I have respect for him, but he stopped practicing.

Re: my therapist yelled at me

hi @Appleblossom @Sparky79 @Glisten @avant-garde @snowflake231 

 

thank you for writing to me and also for sharing your experiences

its not okay that others went through this as well and i'm sorry you did

 

yes it is hitting me in a weird way

my first thoughts were paranoia that no one would believe me - as people generally think therapists are... nice?

he is in his 60s so maybe old fashioned or just of the view that he can tell me what to do

my prior Dr and I had an equal dynamic that maybe many would see as odd but we disagreed, argued, and debated often (for 3 years) and it was okay

 

Dr E is pedantic, doesn't like to be disagreed with, and has picked me apart for not being super fawning and agreeable - he did it like he a right to, like I was sort of his equal and someone he could pull up and berate but I am a woman 25 years younger than him, his patient, and a trauma survivor 😞

i am broken

Re: my therapist yelled at me

hi Snowflake thank u for your response and for sharing