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> But if the child is still out there that isn't necessarily a favor to the dog.

I think this is the major problem of a lot of modern/contemporary mental healthcare. The "tough love"/rewiring/reframing + medication approach probably does often get the desired result from a 10,000ft view (the patient is "functional" within society and isn't actively trying to harm themselves or others), but it frequently gets administered in the most disgustingly dogmatic, abusive way, which leads to the person in question becoming either emotionally dead, or an anxious, neurotic mess. But hey, at least they show up on time for their cashier job!

There are too many people receiving therapy licenses (only referring to the US here as I'm not familiar with the rest of the world) who have zero real understanding of what they're doing to/with their patients beyond reciting the scripts they learned in a three-day CBT or DBT seminar.

And on one hand, it's hard to blame the practitioners, because what are they supposed to tell someone who hasn't been able to make rent for three months despite working full-time and is about to get evicted again? Or who is neurodivergent in some way that literally prevents them from engaging in menial labor without wanting to kill themselves? What can they concretely do to help these people other than teach them to convince themselves that everything is fine and they are the problem?

The whole system is fucked up and there's not really a clear, simple, realistic solution.




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