Very Bad Therapy – Détails, épisodes et analyse

Thank you for listening!

Carrie and Ben create their own model of therapy. Goal setting! Psychoeducation! Exploitation and worrisome sales tactics! What does it say about psychotherapy when our progressively cynical efforts to develop a modality end up mirroring some of the norms in our field? This episode is evidence-based and supported by neuroscience.

Thank you for listening. To support the show and receive access to regular bonus episodes, check out the Very Bad Therapy Patreon community.

Introduction: 0:00 – 5:13

Part One: 5:13 – 1:08:54

Part Two: 1:08:54 – 1:11:44

Very Bad Therapy: Website / Facebook / Bookshelf / Tell Us Your Story

Show Notes:

• Mental health clinical exams’ evident adherence to industry standards for testing
• How to Spot Hype in the Field of Psychotherapy
• The efficacy of non-directive supportive therapy for adult depression: a meta-analysis
• Insight Exchange: Guide to Selecting a Counsellor
• The Radical Therapist #094 – Response-Based Practice w/ Dr. Allan Wade
• Organized Abandonment and Systemic Harm: A Conversation with Therapist & Educator Kimberly Chiswell

What makes for effective group therapy? Cohesion, expectation setting, and as today’s guest Thomas can attest to, not having the therapist give the middle finger to a group member. We try to make sense of Thomas’ experience by looking into research on group therapy, and we also try to make sense of our own experience of failing to find a single group therapy expert.

Thank you for listening. To support the show and receive access to regular bonus episodes, check out the Very Bad Therapy Patreon community.

Introduction: 0:00 – 9:57

Part One: 9:57 – 46:11

Part Two: 46:11 – 1:18:17

Very Bad Therapy: Website / Facebook / Bookshelf / Tell Us Your Story

Show Notes:

• Donate to Heifer International
• I Misplaced My Phone For Forty-Five Minutes, And Now I’m A Mindfulness Expert
• Personalizing Psychotherapy: Assessing and Accommodating Patient Preferences
• Patient perspectives on working with preferences in psychotherapy: A consensual qualitative research study
• Group therapy is as effective as individual therapy, and more efficient. Here’s how to do it successfully
• Recent Developments in Group Psychotherapy Research

Therapist defensiveness is a recurring theme in stories of bad therapy. In this week’s episode, Suzanne shares her experience with a therapist whose defensiveness was expressed in gratuitous displays of power and dismissive remarks. Plus, Dr. Nathan Castle rejoins the show to explore the topics of defensiveness, radical acceptance of clients, and the importance of transparency.

Thank you for listening. Support the show by becoming a monthly subscriber on Patreon to receive access to bonus episodes or by making a one-time contribution via PayPal.

Show Notes:

• Donate to Nacoa
• Why do depressed people prefer sad music?
• Spotify - Deep Focus Playlist
• Dr. Nathan Castle's Website
• Very Bad Therapy: Website / Facebook / Tell Us Your Story

This week’s story from Ashley has all the markings of bad family therapy. But did the interventions work? Ashley shares her experience as a teenager in crisis being threatened with inpatient care and alarms on her door, and Angela Caldwell makes us question everything we know about what constitutes good therapy. Is it OK to trick clients if it leads to successful outcomes?

Thank you for listening. Support the show by becoming a monthly subscriber on Patreon to receive access to bonus episodes or by making a one-time contribution via PayPal.

Show Notes:

• Donate to The Opal Center
• Very Bad Therapy: Website / Facebook / Tell Us Your Story

A satanic panic in the early 1980s culminated in the McMartin Preschool abuse trial, the then-longest and most expensive criminal trial in American history. The trial centered around 359 allegations of ritualistic satanic child abuse and concluded with zero convictions and a new understanding of the unreliability of recovered memories.  The satanic panic has subsided, but its indirect effects are still present today in how therapists work with childhood trauma.

Thank you for listening. Support the show by becoming a monthly subscriber on Patreon to receive access to bonus episodes or by making a one-time contribution via PayPal.

Show Notes:

• Conviction of Things Not Seen: The Uniquely American Myth of Satanic Cults
• Michelle Remembers (Wikipedia)
• Proof Lacking for Ritual Abuse by Satanists
• The Dark Truth About the "Dark Tunnels of McMartin"
• Interviewer's Methods Seen as Key Issue in Preschool Case
• The Most Dangerous Idea in Mental Health
• Recovered Memories
• Interview with Dr. Loftus: Does Repressed Memory Happen?
• 'Some days I think I was molested, others I'm not sure': inside a case of repressed memory
• Ground Lost: The False Memory/Recovered Memory Therapy Debate
• Very Bad Therapy: Website / Facebook / Tell Us Your Story

This week’s story from Alison is a throwback to high school and all of Carrie and Ben’s greatest fears around teenage embarrassment. We discuss interventions that are better left unsaid (telling an underage client to share romantic feelings with her softball coach) and others that have questionable validity (House-Tree-Person and Rorschach tests). Plus, what does modern science have to say about Instagram Face?

Thank you for listening. Support the show by becoming a monthly subscriber on Patreon to receive access to bonus episodes or by making a one-time contribution via PayPal.

Note: This episode was recorded in early March.

Show Notes:

• New study finds women wearing heavy makeup are viewed as having less human-like traits
• House-Tree-Person test
• The Problem With The Rorschach: It Doesn't Work
• Rorschach test (Wikipedia)
• Collaborative Therapy
• Very Bad Therapy: Website / Facebook / Tell Us Your Story

Scott Miller and Daryl Chow return to the podcast to discuss their new book, Better Results: Using Deliberate Practice to Improve Therapeutic Effectiveness.  Topics include the importance of targeting individual strengths and deficits in a system of learning, how to get out of the performance zone, the significance of a coach, and ideas for changing the ways in which psychotherapy is taught.

VBT in Focus is a series of sporadic episodes in which Carrie and Ben have the privilege of chatting with their favorite thinkers in the field of psychotherapy. Thank you for listening. Support the show by becoming a monthly subscriber on Patreon to receive access to bonus episodes or by making a one-time contribution via PayPal.

Show Notes:

• Better Results: Using Deliberate Practice to Improve Therapeutic Effectiveness
• The Heart & Soul of Change: Delivering What Works in Therapy
• Very Bad Therapy: Website / Facebook / Tell Us Your Story

What should therapists know about working with individuals with disabilities? In this week’s episode, Joy Wolf joins us to share her personal story about two therapists who responded to her disability in very different yet similarly problematic ways. We also discuss the impact of privilege, therapist uncertainty, and the limitations in how we are trained to work with clients with disabilities.

Thank you for listening. Support the show by becoming a monthly subscriber on Patreon to receive access to bonus episodes or by making a one-time contribution via PayPal.

Show Notes:

• Donate to Shriners Hospitals
• Joy Wolf, LCSW | Psychology Today
• Frontiers of Psychotherapist Development Podcast
• Very Bad Therapy: Website / Facebook / Tell Us Your Story

An urgent conversation about the role of therapists in doing the most public good during the coronavirus outbreak. Pat Wiita, MD and Farah Zerehi, MS explore the science, needed actions, and social justice implications of the pandemic, and Ben Caldwell, PsyD discusses what you need to know about shifting your practice to telehealth services. Please share this episode anywhere you feel it might make an impact.

If you have expertise or information related to the pandemic that you feel is important to share with the psychotherapy community, email us at vbtpodcast@gmail.com.

Note: A previous version of this episode contained information about Zoom being HIPAA compliant. This is only true for the Zoom for Healthcare option ($200/month), not the free and low-tier paid options.