Why do you trust a therapist to have your best interests at heart?

Trust is often defined by taking what you do know about a person in order to feel safe about what you don’t know. It’s about making yourself vulnerable in front of a person that you don’t know a lot about.

What you can know about a therapist.

You know that they must be smart enough to have attended University and completed at least one degree. This can help you to appreciate that your psychologist has been trained in what works and what doesn’t. Choosing a psychologist who has more degrees and more training can build trust further. A Clinical Psychologist has a masters or doctoral degree which has focused on mental health diagnoses and treatments.
You know that they must keep up their continued education to remain registered with the appropriate boards. This helps you understand that their knowledge is up to date.
You also know that a properly licenced psychologist is bound legally to make sure they don’t share information about you to anyone without your permission. It also means that the psychologist needs to stick to a code of ethics, so they don’t put their own interests over yours and will be prosecuted if they do so. Check that your psychologist belongs to a professional body like the Australian Psychology Society (APS) to bolster your feelings of safety and security.
You are aware of who referred you to this psychologist. If it was your doctor, then it will build trust as they will have had previous associations with this therapist. If it is a friend or family member, it is not enough to lend trust and you need to find out for yourself about the professional qualifications and affiliations of the therapist.

What you do not know about your therapist.

You don’t know what kind of personality they have.
You don’t know just how much they paid attention in University.
You don’t know if this person is going to get along with you.
You don’t know if you are going to feel comfortable with sharing very personal feelings and thoughts about your life with this person.

Like any relationship it will change over a few sessions of therapy. Therefore, attend at least 3 sessions before quitting.

What matters as far as getting the best therapy?

The latest research says that if the quality of the therapeutic information is the same, it is more important that you take on the information that the therapist has to offer, and not that you get along with that therapist. The success of online therapy is a testament to that idea. Learning appropriate skills and practicing them is more likely to lead to improvement then loving your therapist, having great chats but not changing.

Think about things from this angle; if you go to a specialist cardiologist to take care of your heart, do you mind whether you get along with him or not? Sometimes you won’t get to speak to him for more than 15 minutes! You may feel more comfortable when talking about your health with him if he is a “nice guy”, but most of us trust the “authority of referral” that says this man is the “best in his field”. He is practiced at fixing what is wrong and that is your priority, to fix what is wrong.

It is true that it has often been shown that a good relationship with your therapist is important for good treatment. Like any relationship though, this trust can take time to build. When it has built, it can help you get over your reservations to practice exercises.

Conclusion

Much study has proven that most people suffering the same symptoms can recover by following the same techniques. This means that practicing the tools given to you is more important than understanding why they work for you. Some of the things a psychologist will say or ask you to do might not seem like the things you were expecting. That will usually make you feel uncomfortable. Good therapy is about facilitating change, it does not always make us feel happy or comfortable in the moment.

Over time it will be helpful for you to develop trust in your therapist and to form a working alliance. This may take weeks, but it will make it easier for you to reveal how you truly feel leading to greater engagement by you.

In short, over time you can have the best of both worlds, expertise and a warm therapeutic relationship.

At Anxiety Solutions CBT we have a team of highly experienced Psychologists and Clinical Psychologists who are up to date with the most effective treatments. We also focus on providing a warm, supportive environment that promotes trust.

For more information contact us or call Lisa now on 02 9328 5899.

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By Renee Mill|2022-07-11T15:32:18+10:00October 28th, 2019|Therapy and Therapists|

About the Author: Renee Mill

Renee Mill -- Anxiety Solutions CBT Director, Principal Clinical Psychologist, Supervisor and Best Selling Author -- has counseled hundreds of individuals, couples and families for over 30 years. She cares deeply about her clients and has created a warm and safe environment for all thrive. Renee has worked intensely on creating a new technique for dealing with generalised anxiety disorder, social anxiety, fear of public speaking, performance anxiety and panic attacks. Renee’s other key areas of interest are depression, relationships and couple therapy, self-worth, parenting, resilience and well-being. Renee has published 3 best selling books and lectured in Australia, China, Israel, the United States and South Africa. She is well known on the speaker’s circuit and is often called upon by the media for her professional opinion. To hear Renee’s interviews or read her articles have a look at our Media Section.